THIS week’s property review includes a wrap-up of interesting recent listings across the country, across Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.

 Breeding and scale on offer in Tasmania

 Fully exclusion fenced Dirranbandi property heads to auction

 Two aggregations list in northern NSW

 Strong inquiry for two SA pastoral stations

 Feedlot and farming on QLD-NSW border

Breeding and scale offered in Tasmania

 

Tasmania’s James and Tahnee McShane are selling their well-rounded breeding property producing grass-fed lamb and beef and fine Merino wool.

The 2880ha Rotherwood is located near Lower Marshes, one hour from Hobart, in Tasmania’s tightly held Central Highlands.

The current enterprise boasts a strong history of sheep production, and is running around 7000DSE or more specifically, 2900 breeding ewes, 1200 wethers, 3500 Merino hogget ewes, 900 Merino hogget wethers and 760 first cross lambs.

AWN agent Cade Ebdon said the property offers upside to the incoming purchaser.

“With further pasture and fertility improvements, Rotherwood has the potential to carry up to 10,800DSE or 1353AE.”

Mr Ebdon reports good enquiry from local and interstate producers, including Queenslanders looking to relocate.

The country on Rotherwood comprises 1350ha of open grazing land, 500ha of bush runs for grazing, a 110ha hardwood plantation and 12.5ha softwood plantation ready for harvest and 800ha of native forestry due for selective harvesting in five years.

Mr Ebdon said Rotherwood offers potential for carbon projects in forestry and soil.

Stock water supplied by a dam and a bore is supported by a 622mm average annual rainfall.

Infrastructure includes a five-bedroom home, a three-bedroom cottage, a five-stand shearing shed, steel sheep yards, shearers quarters and cattle yards.

Rotherwood is being offered for sale by expressions of interest closing on June 21.

Exclusion fenced Dirranbandi property heads to auction

Dirranbandi’s Cookson family is selling the fully exclusion fenced Mulga Downs in south-west Queensland after seven years of ownership.

The 20,158ha are situated halfway between Dirranbandi and Bollon and are being sold after the family purchased another property closer to their home block, Koomalah.

Mulga Downs is equally suited to cattle, sheep or goat breeding, with a 12,000DSE or 1400AE carrying capacity.

Nutrien Harcourts GDL agent Nick Dunsdon and Dirranbandi Pastoral Agency agent Stephen Burnett have been appointed to handle the sale.

They said the forward-thinking vendors have set up an opportunity for the incoming purchaser to take advantage of multiple, diverse income streams.

“Mulga Downs a turnkey livestock enterprise offering scale, diversity, value, excellent water facilities and well thought out paddocks.”

The agents are anticipating good interest from locals and interstate families looking to expand or relocate.

The country comprises a mix of red loam soils with mulga, box, wilga and gidgee timbers, and grey alluvial flood plains from the Mungallala and Nebine Creeks.

Mulga Downs currently has a good body of feed. It grows natural herbages and clovers in all seasons, as well as buffel and natural grasses in the summer.

It is watered by two new (natural flowing) artesian bores piped to 31 new tanks and 46 new troughs, supported by 400mm of average annual rainfall.

Infrastructure includes two homes, numerous sheds, two cattle yards, two sheep yards, a five-stand shearing shed and shearers’ quarters.

The former Cobb & Co changing station is home to a 100-year-old Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) registered weather station.

Mulga Downs comes with a registered carbon project and Gypsum Mine royalties plus an opportunity to purchase the mining lease. It will be auctioned on July 12.

Two aggregations list in northern NSW

Institutions and large local operators are expected to vie for a versatile Golden Triangle property with the ability to pivot in line with season and commodity prices.

The 3497ha Postmans Aggregation is located 39km north of Warialda and 94km north-east of Moree, on the edge of the renowned Golden Triangle region of north-west New South Wales.

The aggregation is anticipated to make around $30 million. It has been listed by Alistair Michel, who has spent three years upgrading water and fencing infrastructure.

Mr Michel said Postmans is experiencing one of the best starts to the year with barley already planted.

“The aggregation offers the incoming purchaser plenty of opportunities because it is suited to sheep and cattle breeding and trading, combined with dual-purpose crops and fodder production.”

It comprises four contiguous holdings – 1303ha Postmans, 1795ha Brentwood and Yarran, and 398ha Yarran West.

Across the aggregation, 2156ha (62 percent) are arable, with the heavy black self-mulching to chocolate brown and red basalt soils growing barley and oats.

The 1224ha balance consists of 465ha of improved pastures and 848ha of open native grasses supporting 590 mixed breeders and 630 yearling trade cattle.

The estimated carrying capacity is 21,000 DSEs.

LAWD director George Barton described Postmans Aggregation as a versatile asset in a premium location.

“The extensive fencing and laneways, multiple secure water sources and state-of-the-art cattle handling facilities coupled with exceptional cropping land gives the owner of Postmans Aggregation the ability to pivot with the seasons.”

The aggregation is watered by three bores, 24 dams and a 200ML storage dam, supported by a 685mm annual average rainfall.

Infrastructure includes a four-bedroom home (Brentwood), a circa 1880 stone home (Postmans), two staff dwellings (Postmans and Yarran), numerous machinery sheds, four steel cattle yards, two (unequipped) shearing sheds and 16 grain silos with 760 tonnes of capacity.

The Postmans Aggregation is close to grain receival sites near Croppa Creek, Biniguy and Moree, livestock selling centres near Inverell, Glen Innes and Armidale, abattoirs near Inverell and Tamworth, and feedlots near Inverell, Croppa Creek and Glen Innes.

It is offered by expressions of interest closing on July 11.

Mount Nombi, NSW

A blue-ribbon grazing and cropping opportunity on the fringe of the renowned Liverpool Plains in northern New South Wales has returned to the market with a $19.5 million price tag.

The 2842ha Mount Nombi is located 15km from Mullaley, halfway between Coonabarabran and Gunnedah.

It is being sold by the Singapore-based Silverstrand investment fund due to a change of direction, after three years of ownership.

Mount Nombi was offered to the market in September last year as part of the 4942ha Wyuna Aggregation.

Following an expressions of interest campaign, 2100ha were carved off and sold to neighbours, with the remainder aggregated to form the new Mount Nombi landholding.

Almost half of the property, spanning 1400ha, is developed for dryland cropping with the balance used for sheep and cattle breeding and finishing. The vendors are currently running 737 head of mixed cattle.

Water is secured from three equipped bores, as well as a number of creeks and dams.

Infrastructure includes a five-bedroom (circa 1904) home, a two-bedroom cottage, workers accommodation, cattle and sheep yards, sheds and 2500 tonnes of grain storage.

Mount Nombi has potential for carbon offset and biodiversity pursuits and is being offered for sale as a whole or as separate assets by LAWD agents Col Medway and George Barton.

Strong inquiry for two SA pastoral stations

Buyers seeking better value for money country, exceptional water and geographic diversity are being spoilt for choice, with two properties in South Australia’s renowned Flinders Ranges region up for grabs.

The 55,400ha Motpena and the 43,300ha Lake Torrens (about 60km apart) have been listed for sale at a time when, typically, only a limited number of pastoral stations are offered to the market.

In an interesting comparison, both have similar stocking capacities. There is no price guide for Motpena; however, the slightly smaller Lake Torrens has been listed for $5.4 million.

Three years ago, Wallerberdina Station, which neighbours Lake Torrens, sold prior to auction for $4.11m.

Agents for both properties report widespread interest from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australian producers.

Motpena Station

The 55,400ha Motpena, located near Parachilna, 103km from Hawker and 208km from Port Augusta, extends from the shores of Lake Torrens to the foothills of the Flinders Ranges.

Motpena has been owned by the Fels family for 30 years. It has been running a self-replacing shorthorn cattle herd. It has been conservatively stocked over recent years, but is rated to run 1300 head of cattle. Sheep were last run there in the 1960s.

The Fels have carried out extensive native revegetation on barren claypan flats with water diversion projects.

The substantial floodplain areas are fed by the Parachilna and Cottage Creeks. The Commodore Swamp system covers around a third of the property’s southern section.

The property has an abundant underground water supply sourced from 15 equipped bores and five main water meters. An opportunity exists for the incoming purchaser to further expand the watering points and spread the grazing pressure in dry times.

Nutrien Harcourts agent Brian Barnett said Motpena is an opportunity for a producer to expand their existing pastoral enterprise or for those looking for a gateway to diversification.

“The sealed Outback Highway that traverses through Motpena ensures exceptional accessibility and creates an opportunity to leverage the thriving Flinders Ranges tourism market.”

Improvements include a six-bedroom home, numerous sheds and four cattle yards. An old shearers’ quarters providing possible extra accommodation and tourism income.

The property is offered on a walk-in-walk-out basis by registrations of interest closing on June 28. The sale includes station plant and equipment and livestock (subject to muster).

Lake Torrens Station

Also on offer is the nearby Lake Torrens that has recently listed for $5.4m.

The 43,300ha property has been held by John and Julie Rowe for 40 years. It is located 57km north-west of Hawker and 162km from Port Augusta.

The holding was established in 1854 and named in honour of South Australia’s Sir Robert Richard Torrens, who introduced the Torrens Land Titles system in 1858.

Lake Torrens is currently run as a cattle breeding enterprise, but has the potential and capacity to revert back to a sheep operation. It is rated to run 1360 cattle or 6800 sheep equivalents.

The EU-accredited property is well-improved and managed, and conservatively running 342 cows and calves on blue bush, salt bush, native grasses and herbages.

Thye property is well-watered by eight bores and a dam, and there is potential for further water development.

Infrastructure includes a four-bedroom home, a cottage, quarters, a five-stand shearing shed, sheep yards, four steel cattle yards and various sheds.

Elders agent Adam Chilcott is handling the sale of Lake Torrens.

Feedlot and farming on Qld-NSW border

Lot feeders seeking expansion, corporates and private large scale operators are expected to compete for a commercial scale accredited feedlot and quality mixed farming enterprise on the Queensland – New South Wales border.

The 3529ha Myranee Feedlot and Maidenhead Station are located 12km south-east of Bonshaw, 36km south-east of Texas and 56km south-west of Tenterfield.

The Border Rivers region is renowned for the feedlotting of cattle for domestic and export markets due to its favourable climate characteristics.

The property was developed by Lyle and Jo Bellingham over their four-year ownership. The couple reside at the adjoining Maidenhead Station which is suited to breeding and backgrounding cattle or sheep, as well as producing fodder (oats and barley) or cash cropping.

The newly constructed Myranee cattle and sheep feedlot is built to 5600 Standard Cattle Units (SCU) with a licenced capacity of 10,000SCU and fully built to 9000 Standard Sheep Units (SSU).

Currently, it has 1200 head of cattle and 6000 lambs on feed, offering the incoming purchaser significant growth potential.

There are five centre pivot irrigation sites spanning 106ha and 340ha of dryland cropping, with the productive alluvial soils along extensive river flats on the Dumaresq River transitioning to yellow and yellow mottled trap soils on the slopes.

The 3083ha balance is grazing country, currently used for agistment, that can run 10,000DSE.

Reliable water is supplied by a 300ML water allocation from the Dumaresq River, 13km of river frontage, 494ML of bore water licences across two bores, an additional four bores, plus numerous dams and creeks.

Infrastructure includes a modern homestead, a manager’s residence, two workers quarters, a modern feedlot facility (sheep and cattle) with a roller mill, 1000 tonnes of grain storage, numerous sheds, two cattle yards, sheep yards and a shearing shed.

LAWD agents Darren Collins, Simon Cudmore and Grant Veivers are handling the private treaty sale campaign.