$120m price tag for David Bartter’s renowned Riverina aggregation, Ballandry Station

An Australian poultry pioneer is selling his 26,839ha northern Riverina station, which is one of the largest individually-owned farms in the region.

An Australian poultry industry pioneer is selling his mammoth 26,839ha northern Riverina station, offering it to the market for the third time in five years.

David Bartter is looking to offload the sprawling and irrigated Ballandry Station, which is located 37km north and northwest of Griffith.

Mr Bartter first listed the station for sale in 2018 and after it failed to sell the property hit the market again in June 2021 where it was offered with an undisclosed asking price.

Five years on from the original listing, Mr Bartter is again offering the Ballandry Station where it is expected to sell for about $120 million as a whole.

While the station has previously been offered for sale, Mr Bartter is wanting to offload the aggregation in the coming months.

Mr Bartter said he was committed to the current campaign which was expected to result in new stewardship for the property by mid-year.

Ballandry Station spans 26,839ha throughout the northern Riverina near Griffith.

“We have recently been approached with very good offers and see this new sale campaign as the last offer of my lifetime of work building the Ballandry Station aggregation of farms,” he said.

“It is time for new stewardship.”

CBRE Agribusiness selling agent Boo Harvey and director Matt Childs are handling the sale.

“This opportunity is truly once in a lifetime, a philosophy that Mr Bartter applied in building the aggregation of farms to what is presented today,” Ms Harvey said.

Ballandry Station is capable of a wide range of dryland and irrigated cropping pursuits.

“Farm aggregations of this size meet head-on the worldwide concerns with food security.

“Mr Bartter hopes that an Australian consortium will acquire the farms and maintain Australia’s lead in worldwide food security.”

Ballandry Station comprises 12 properties aggregated by Mr Bartter over the course of his lifetime and time as a leading mixed farmer in the northern Riverina.

The station is capable of a variety of mixed farming pursuits including 3000ha which has been tested as suitable for almond production.

Ms Harvey said on Ballandry Station’s red loam and red sandy loam soils the property has outperformed district average dryland cropping yields of 2.4 to 2.6 tonnes per hectare in recent seasons.

Ballandry includes 20,000 tonnes of grain and fertiliser storage as well as machinery sheds, workshops, plant and equipment.

There is also 45,457 irrigation delivery entitlements and one of the aggregations has direct access to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Northern Branch Canal.

In addition to the land holding, the successful purchaser will also get access to this year’s crop.

The major listing comes as a 42,900ha Victorian-WA farm portfolio has hit the market where it is tipped to fetch $400 million.