Duxton Farms awarded Wildman land as new farm on the drawing board

The Territory is about to get a new farm after a tender was awarded by the NT government. Read who it is.

A major boost for the Territory’s agribusiness sector, with national farming investor Duxton Farms Ltd announced as the preferred proponent to develop a major Territory agribusiness project.

Duxton Farms purchased 2386ha of the 28,000ha Wildman Agribusiness Precinct, which will be the first stage of its plan to develop a range of farming operations including livestock, broad acre and horticultural crops.

Agriculture crops such as mangoes, melons and sorghum have the potential to be harvested and grown at this precinct, along with cattle farming.

Agribusiness and Fisheries minister Mark Monaghan said the purchase was expected to stimulate economic growth in the region through further investment into farming infrastructure and working opportunities for Territorians.

Agribusiness Minister Mark Monaghan. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

This sale is a part of the Lawler government’s drive to grow the Territory’s agribusiness sector to $2bn by 2030, with the Wildman Agricultural Precinct key in employing a regional workforce and attracting agricultural investment.

Mr Monaghan said as well as the Wildman precinct, about 130km south-east of Darwin, the Territory government would work to develop other agricultural projects across the Territory, including Lambells Lagoon.

“Expanding the Northern Territory’s agribusiness sector is critical to driving growth into our regions and getting more Territorians working,” Mr Monaghan said.

“This sale is an important step to ensuring we develop sustainable solutions for our agricultural and horticultural industries.

“The Agribusiness sector is an important contributor to the Territory’s growing economy, so it is vital we continue to support this industry and continue to drive towards our goal of $2bn by 2030.”

In December 2022, Australian-owned consortium Larrimah Farms Pty Ltd was chosen as preferred developer at the 5700 Larrimah Agricultural Precinct, about 180km south of Katherine.

Larrimah Farm’s Jamie Schembri said the company could bring up to 60 new jobs to the district.

“We will be producing a range of broadacre crops and a selection of tropical grass seeds which are best suited to the location,” he said.

“Initially we will be focusing on growing melons and progressively trialling new crops such as ginger, turmeric, cumin, black sesame, fennel, caraway and hemp and expanding into new varieties of crops which have been trialled previously such as chickpeas, corn and sorghum.”