Skermer family to sell Western District farm, Lime Creek, near Chatsworth

A tightly held family-owned cropping gem in Victoria’s west has hit the market with offers tipped to exceed $22,500 a hectare.

A Western District family-owned cropping gem is for sale for the first time in about 100 years as Victoria’s spring rural property market starts to heat up.

John and Jess Skermer and family are selling the 711ha Lime Creek farm near Chatsworth, in Victoria’s west, with offers of more than $16 million expected.

The Skermer family have operated Lime Creek since 1988, with Mr Skermer taking the reins of the farm from his parents Michael and Sally about 10 years ago.

The tightly-held farm, which is expected to receive offers well in excess of $22,500 a hectare, has predominantly been used for winter crops in recent years alongside a highly productive livestock operation in the past.

A hallmark of the Skermer’s farm are 626ha worth of row crops, of which 500ha has been developed to raised-bed formations in the past five years.

CBRE agents David Goodfellow, Shane McIntyre and Matt Childs are handling the sale and predicted Lime Creek would attract interest from a range of buyers.

“In an incredibly tightly-held region, we would expect Western District farming families to be interested in this one,” he said.

At Lime Creek, near Chatsworth, 500ha worth of row crops were developed to raised-bed formations in the past five years.

“We are also expecting farming families from out of the area to be interested in Lime Creek because of the Western District’s reliability.

“With the size and scale this farm offers, we are also expecting some corporate and agribusiness activity.”

Lime Creek has 626ha planted to winter row crops with 253ha of canola, 194ha of wheat and 179ha of faba beans in the ground in 2022, in what is shaping up to be another bumper season.

Lime Creek has also supported a highly productive livestock operation in the past thanks to the likes of perennial pastures, large modern shearing shed with undercover sheep yards.

If Lime Creek was to be only used for livestock grazing it is estimated to have a carrying capacity about 12,800 DSE.

Winter crops canola wheat and faba beans are planted this season at Lime Creek.

At 1279 Hexham-Chatsworth Rd there is a five-bedroom brick homestead with underground cellar and an expansive garden which has Lime Creek frontages.

Supporting infrastructure includes machinery sheds, workshops and 150 tonnes of permanent grain silos with a pressurised reticulated water supply to troughs in paddocks.

About 17km of new fencing has been installed over the last five years across Lime Creek’s 20 paddocks.

The 2022 crops, plant, equipment and operational consumables are also for sale via a two-stage expression of interest, with stage one closing October 20.

In a recent major cropping sale a renowned Kyabram farming family has sold two Goulburn Valley farms in a deal understood to be worth millions.