Aussie cattle king snaps up $66m Queensland station
A 33,959ha showpiece cattle station has been sold by a renowned family of Wagyu breeders to one of Australia’s biggest beef barons. See the details.
A family of renowned Wagyu breeders has offloaded its showpiece 33,959ha Queensland cattle station, snapped up by one of the state’s renowned cattle kings.
Noel Chiconi and wife Jo-Anne, of Chiconi Grazing, have sold their cattle breeding property Taylors Plains, 100km north of Mungallala in southwest Queensland, after listing it for sale in February this year as part of retirement plans.
In a recently settled transaction, Queensland cattleman Peter Hughes and family have paid a reported $66m for Taylors Plains, adding it to their vast pastoral empire. It is understood the property has been sold walk-in, walk-out, including cattle, plant and equipment.
Operating as Georgina Pastoral Co and Hughes Pastoral Group, Peter Hughes and family own significant landholdings in southwest Queensland including the nearby 160,000ha Caldervale station at Tambo.
In total the Hughes family own and operate 3.9 million hectares, building what is considered one of the largest privately owned Wagyu beef herds in the world.
The largest assets include the 1.6 million-hectare Lake Nash Station, which straddles the Queensland–Northern Territory border, plus the 438,000ha Miranda Downs Station in Queensland’s Gulf Country, purchased in 2021 for $215m.
Headquartered at the 140,000ha Tierawoomba station near Nebo in central Queensland, the Hughes’ expanded their NT footprint three years ago , paying Gina Rinehart’s S.Kidman and Co $100m for the 550,000ha Riveren and Inverway stations.
It is understood Taylors Plains will be used for breeding and backgrounding young Wagyu-influenced cattle transferred from Hughes Pastoral properties further north.
Acquired in 2002, the Taylors Plains was developed by the Chiconis into a powerhouse Wagyu farm with a conservative carrying capacity of 6250 adult equivalents.
Primary land types across the property include 9010ha of brigalow, bottle tree and belah scrub, 11,542ha of poplar box on alluvial plains, and 8217ha of lancewood and bendee ridges.
The property is securely watered via seven bores delivering water through 105km of mainly 63mm poly pipe to an extensive network of 27 tanks, two turkey’s nest dams, and 105 concrete troughs, with water security supported by 47 dams.
LAWD senior directors Col Medway and Tim McKinnon plus director Grant Veivers handled the sale of Taylors Plains, but declined to comment on the transaction.
