The billionaire co-owner of one of the world’s biggest agricultural machinery companies, Cathrina Claas-Muehlhaeuser, has bolstered her holdings in NSW’s Liverpool Plains food bowl region after buying a historic cattle farm for $17.3 million at auction.

Ms Claas-Muehlhaeuser is chairwoman of Germany’s Claas Group, which last year reported revenue of €6.14 billion ($10 billion). She was the only bidder for Tuwinga, a 2287-hectare mixed-farming property at Bundella, about 175 kilometres east of Dubbo.