Australia’s biggest autumn farm sales

Hundreds of millions worth of Australian farmland has changed hands over the traditional autumn selling season. See some of the biggest deals struck so far this year.

Tallis Miles

@tallis_miles

2 min read

June 4, 2024 - 5:00AM

The Weekly Times

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Hundreds of millions worth of Australian farmland has changed hands over the traditional autumn selling season, led by a number of high-profile transactions involving some of the nation’s largest agricultural investors.

Most notably US pension fund, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and College Retirement Equities Fund’s (TIAA-CREF) Nuveen Natural Capital - the biggest farmland investor in the world - paid $90 million for the 14,074ha Sunshine Farms, located near Forbes NSW.

Meanwhile, Canadian giant PSP Investments’ subsidiary Altora Ag, paid $70 million to acquire the 8432ha Timberscombe Aggregation, located northeast of West Wyalong NSW.

However, large-scale farming families have also been active in the market including the Elias family’s deals for Paraway Pastoral’s Borambil Station and the Pickersgill family’s expansion of their Bunderra Cattle Company with the purchase of 10,210ha Rockland Spring cattle station near Rolleston QLD.

LAWD senior director Danny Thomas said the rural property market’s stratification had consolidated with significant interest in assets worth more than $40 million.

Nuveen Natural Capital purchased the Sunshine Aggregation, located near Forbes NSW.

“In that threshold of $40-$50 million, there has been lots of institutional interest, but we have also seen the stalemate between vendors and purchasers starting to subside and this is flowing through to the below $40 million bracket too,” he said.

“Improved seasonal conditions (in some regions), a little uptick and stabilising in cattle prices as well as the opening of China has added quite a bit of positivity to the market, especially in livestock.

“With that demand the highest quality assets are not selling at a discount. With the second-tier assets they might be discounted a little, around 10-15 per cent.”

Mr Thomas also said new institutional buyers were emerging in the market alongside continued interest from established North American players.

“For a long time institutional capital has overwhelmingly come from North America, however, money has recently come from Europe, the Middle East, as well as Chinese buyers who have existing investments,” he said.

RaboResearch analyst Vitor Pistoia said farmland values were projected to remain stable for the foreseeable future.

“The long-term view is crystal clear – farmland is in demand. The pivotal point for the land market now is how to properly evaluate the ‘risk-reward’ scenario for such a long-term investment,” Mr Pistoia said.

“The number of deals based on capital gains rather than economic fundamentals may dwindle as the market matures.

“A drop in land values would require widespread drought, serious economic hurdles and/or disease outbreak – none of which is on the horizon fortunately.”