Macquarie’s Viridis Ag to sell four-farm WA cropping aggregation

The mammoth cropping vehicle of Macquarie Agriculture has listed a 13,000ha portfolio of farms in the northern WA wheatbelt.

Macquarie Agriculture, via its mammoth cropping vehicle, has listed a 13,000ha portfolio of northern Western Australian wheatbelt farmland for sale.

Viridis Ag is selling the Alcheringa Aggregation, an amalgamation of four semi-contiguous holdings located near Kadathinni, about 140km southeast of Geraldton.

Purchased by Viridis Ag in February 2020, the Alcheringa Aggregation comprises the 3343ha Alcheringa with 2301ha arable, 4623ha Victoria Springs with 3165ha arable, 3183ha Moodjar Downs with 2,657ha arable, and 1878ha Wandoo Park with 1220ha arable.

In recent seasons the aggregation has produced crops including cereals (wheat), oilseeds (canola) and pulses (lupins), yielding 1.63 tonnes per hectare for wheat, 1.44t per hectare for barley, 1.02t per hectare for canola and 1.25t per hectare for lupins.

Following several years of development to the aggregation, it is understood Viridis Ag are selling the properties to realise its value for investors.

Viridis Ag are selling their 13,027ha Alcheringa Aggregation, located about 140km southeast of Geraldton.

LAWD senior director Danny Thomas is handling the sale alongside director Simon Wilkinson.

Both agents declined to comment on the listing.

Macquarie Agriculture is regarded as the second largest investor in Australian farmland by value, with a $4 billion-plus portfolio of assets.

Its Viridis Ag vehicle was launched in 2018 when it purchased its seed asset, the 16,500ha The Grange property, located 60km southeast of Geraldton on the northern WA wheatbelt.

Now the corporate cropping giant operates 12 aggregations across 113,500 hectares of Western Australia, South Australia and NSW focused on broadacre row cropping and headquartered in Albury NSW.

Recent cropping farmland sales in the broader Kadathinni district have reached offers worth $1967 to $2965 a hectare.

Viridis Ag purchased the Alcheringa Aggregation in February 2020.

If this value is achieved, the Alcheringa Aggregation ranges from $25.625 to $38.625 million as a whole.

The Alcheringa Aggregation is for sale as a whole, or as separate assets, with expressions of interest closing September 27.

Meanwhile in the NT, the Vietnamese owners of the Vermelha Station have listed the 204,000ha cattle station for sale.

Located to the east of the Stuart Highway, 2km from Larrimah, Vermelha Station consists of a 16,000-head cattle enterprise, made up primarily of Brahman-Cross breeders.

Purchased by businessman Pham Nhat Vu in 2016 for $18 million, the acquisition was regarded as the first foray by Vietnamese investment into the northern Australian cattle industry.

Judy Truong of Darwin Property Group is handling the sale of the station, on a walk-in, walk-out basis, where it could be worth more than $40 million.