Forrests’ vast farming interests barely turn a profit for billionaire owners

Their cattle business is back in the black, but only just, as the Forrests seek a ‘dynamic leader’ for the Minderoo operations covering 760,000 hectares. A home will be provided.

Andrew Forrest at his property, Minderoo, which is in the northwest of Western Australia. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest are on the hunt for a couple to run the family’s much-loved Minderoo cattle station and its associated pastoral properties covering about 760,000 hectares in Western Australia’s Pilbara.

The Forrests, who shared some of their happiest times at Minderoo before they went their separate ways, prefer to hire couples to run their vast cattle stations but the Minderoo job is also open to individuals, and comes with a new four-bedroom, two-bathroom home.

The role does not include looking after the luxury residence on Minderoo built by the Forrests and sometimes used to host board and strategy meetings for iron ore miner Fortescue, which they control through a collective 36.7 per cent stake.

Minderoo forms part of Harvest Road, the Forrest family’s private agricultural business, which reported a $2.9m profit in 2024-25 after a $20.4m loss in the previous year. Harvest Road would have again slipped into loss-making territory without a $50m trust distribution from a related party controlled by the Forrests, but did invest about $52m in growth projects in 2024-25.

Harvest Road declined to answer questions about its financial accounts or the Minderoo job.

The search for a new Minderoo manager comes amid a change of strategy for the property, which is shifting focus from breeding cattle to backgrounding – a term which refers to growing calves after weaning.

Minderoo is also home to bull and horse breeding, and irrigated fodder production.

Minderoo is home to bull and horse breeding. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The wider Minderoo aggregation takes in the Urala, Uaroo and Nanutarra pastoral leases. Uaroo was earmarked for a multibillion-dollar Fortescue wind and solar farm until the company scrapped those plans in 2023.

“Located at the crossroads of WA’s natural wonders, including Ningaloo Reef and Karijini National Park, you will enjoy rewarding professional opportunities in a unique landscape,” Harvest Road advertised.

“We are seeking a dynamic leader who has a strong operational foundation and the strategic insight to guide the business forward.”

Minderoo is currently caught up in a Forrest legal battle with a traditional owner group over plans to build a series of nine “leaky weirs” along the Fortescue River, which runs through the property. Private company Forrest & Forrest is arguing the weirs would allow for a greater volume of water to seep into and replenish the underground aquifer beneath Minderoo.

Harvey Gaynor filled the long-vacant chief executive post at Harvest Road in May. Mr Gaynor, a former CEO of Macquarie-backed Paraway Pastoral, took up the reins from Paul Slaughter who departed in August 2023.

The Forrest family’s connection to Minderoo dates back to the 1860s and it was Andrew Forrest’s childhood home. Fortescue’s founder and executive chairman fulfilled a burning ambition when he repurchased Minderoo for $12m in 2009.

The station, near Onslow, had been in family hands for four generations before his father Don was forced to sell in 1998.

Harvest Road assets include the Harvey Beef abattoir, a feedlot, and cattle stations across the Kimberley and Pilbara that cover about 2.7 million hectares in total. Outside raising cattle and beef processing, Harvest Road produce oysters from aquaculture operations in Albany on WA’s south coast.

Originally published as Forrests’ vast farming interests barely turn a profit for billionaire owners