Longbottom family sell three Curramulka cropping farms for $13.14 million

A Yorke Peninsula farming family has ended a 130-year legacy, selling three farms at a red-hot auction. See all the details.

A family’s 130-year farming legacy has come to a lucrative end with the auction of three cropping properties on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula.

Tony and Anne Longbottom have sold 353ha of farmland at Curramulka, about 45km south of Maitland, for more than $13 million through auction.

In front of a crowd of about 90 people at the Curramulka Community Club, three lots went under the hammer with one neighbouring buyer securing two lots, while a separate neighbouring buyer purchased lot 3.

Bidding for the 213.69ha Pineview block started at $7.5 million, before the Kemp family placed a winning bid of $7.91 million, or $37,016 a hectare.

The Kemp family also purchased the adjoining 56.63ha block, Pat’s, paying $2.28 million or $40,261 a hectare, following bidding that started at $1.6 million.

The non-contingent 79.63ha block, Tommy’s, was sold to the neighbouring Lister family who paid $2.95 million, or $37,046 a hectare after bidding increased from a starting point of $2 million.

The Longbottom family have sold their three Curramulka cropping farms.

Nutrien Harcourts selling agent Troy Goldsworthy said neighbouring farmers showed strong demand for the farms with comparable properties in the district not listed for sale in more than 18 months.

“Lot 1 had been in the owner’s family for 130 years, and that shows why it was so fiercely competed for. You potentially would need to wait a long time for the next time it could be for sale,” Mr Goldsworthy said.

“The results reflect the combination of ongoing demand and a lack of opportunity to expand in what is a genuinely reliable area.

The Curramulka farms combined for 353ha south Maitland, SA.

Mr Goldsworthy also said a record harvest last year meant farmers were well-positioned and willing to take on more farmland in the district.

“This year we had a very good start and middle part of the season, but compared to last year, which was a record year, we will naturally be a bit down on that,” Mr Goldsworthy said.

In recent seasons the Longbottoms’ Curramulka farms have been continuously cropped to wheat and lentils across what is mostly brown with some grey loam cropping soils.

The Longbottoms will complete their final harvest this season before the new owners take the reins.

Earlier this year a local syndicate of farming families acquired the McIntyre family’s Paradean South farm paying $9.6 million for the 257ha cropping property, or $37,647 a hectare, through auction.