Frank and Kathy Fanning sell Goulburn Valley farms at Wyuna in huge deal

A renowned Kyabram farming family has sold two Goulburn Valley farms in a deal understood to be worth millions.

Two farms spanning 462ha in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley have been sold by an award-winning family in a deal believed to be worth millions.

Kyabram farmers Frank and Kathy Fanning have sold their 238ha and 224ha John Allan Rd cropping farms at Wyuna to undisclosed Goulburn Valley farmers.

The properties were listed for sale in July with a price guide of $7.2 million-$8 million for the farms combined.

The sale price was undisclosed, but is understood the farms have been sold as one for a price about their expected range, marking it as one of the most significant sales in the district.

A strong field of local interest competed for the separate Wyuna farms, located about 1km apart.

Buyers from Queensland and South Africa were also among those who inquired about the aggregation during the sales process.

The Fanning family produced award-winning lucerne crops during their 17-year tenure of the Wyuna farms.

Hinchliffe and Greed Real Estate Kyabram agents Greg Caldwell and John Lilford completed the deal and did not comment on any aspect of the sale.

In 2005 the Fanning family purchased the farms, developing them into a renowned cropping aggregation.

The farms are located in the Goulburn River Valley irrigation district, a region typically associated with dairy farming.

However, during the Fanning family’s 17-year tenure they have used the fine sandy loam soils to cultivate cereal crops, lucerne, maize and faba beans.

At the 2014 Feed Central National Hay Quality awards the Fanning’s won a national award for their lucerne.

They followed this up in 2018-19, topping the charts in the best lucerne hay feed test analysis and the best lucerne visual appearance score in Victoria and across Australia.

It is understood the purchasers plan to run the farms in similar way to the Fanning family.

Both parcels of the aggregation are irrigated by four centre pivots and a 117ML bore licence.

Support infrastructure includes three large haysheds — one can hold 800 tonnes of grain for back up at harvest, large machinery sheds, silos and a disused dairy.

In other recent sales major Riverina pastoralists Bill and Pip Ryan secured the expansive 43,334ha Glen Emu Station near Balranald, paying more than $16 million through auction.