Prominent cotton growers David and Danielle Statham are hoping to rake in more than $70 million from the sale of one of the jewels in their farming empire, St Ronans Station in Far North Queensland – as they focus on developing a major wind farm on a carved-out portion of the holding.

The 44,000-hectare dryland cropping and cattle property near Mt Surprise – about 300 kilometres south-west of Cairns – is the largest holding within the Stathams’ Sundown Pastoral Co, which is based at Keytah, a 26,300ha cotton powerhouse near Moree in western NSW.