Ron Greentree to sell Milton Down East, at Bellata, for $23m-plus

An Aussie wheat farming giant is selling another slice of his whopping portfolio, with a 2400ha cotton farm on the market.

The final piece of one of Australia’s most renowned farms has been listed for sale by Australian wheat giant Ron Greentree.

Milton Downs East, a 2400ha cotton farm at Bellata in north-central NSW, has been listed for sale via auction on September 1 where it could fetch north of $23 million.

The headline listing comes after a 19,060ha slice of the Milton Downs holding was sold to a local buyer earlier this year for an undisclosed price, but rumoured to be more than $100 million.

In 2008 the Kahlbetzer family’s Twynam Agricultural Group sold Milton Downs and neighbouring Boolcarrol at Wee Waa for $75 million to Greentree Farming, a partnership between Mr Greentree and the Harris family.

Six years later the 50,000ha Milton Downs and Boolcarrol aggregation was listed for sale for $200 million.

Since then Greentree Farming has ceased trading with the Harris family, taking ownership of Boolcarrol.

Milton Downs is one of Australia’s most renowned dryland cropping farms.

In September 2016, the 10,000ha southeastern slice of Milton Downs was reportedly sold to US investment company Westchester-Nuveen for about $50 million.

Mr Greentree retained the remaining 21,460ha before marketing Milton Downs and Milton Downs East in the past 12 months.

Moree Real Estate selling agent Sandy Bailey, who sold the 19,060ha Milton Downs block, said he expected local interest to be high for final piece of the holding.

“The market is still really good and after a couple of good seasons and a strong outlook for this year, there are local farmers in good positions,” he said.

“We expect some interest from further away and the corporate interest to be fairly competitive.”

The 19,060ha slice of the Milton Downs holding was sold to a local buyer earlier this year for an undisclosed price.

In 2020 Mr Greentree also listed the 12,500ha Muttama Station at Coonamble for sale with market expectations of $31 million. No sale has been reported.

Mr Greentree, a controversial figure in the wheat industry, has held key positions through his career, including an appointment as the director of Wheat Quality Australia and chairman of the Wheat Classification Council in 2014.

In recent years Mr Greentree has been expanding into the Ord Valley in Western Australia’s Kimberley region working with Kimberley Agricultural Investment to develop 5000ha cotton and corn crops.