McWaters family sells Binbrook at Lucindale, SA

In a stunning result, a South Australian family has sold its 630ha farm, smashing price expectations at auction.

Fuelled by a desire to secure a slice of prime agricultural land in a tightly held district of South Australia, a 630ha grazing farm has been sold under the hammer for $22 million.

Binbrook, at Lucindale, 40km west of Naracoorte in southeast South Australia, was sold on Friday to an established farming family with existing holdings in the region.

After owning and developing Binbrook since 1952, Tom and Kerry McWaters sold the property, which made about $34,920 a hectare ($14,111 an acre).

TDC Livestock and Property selling agents Tom Pearce and Mark De Garis handled the sale and said the result smashed expectations.

“It is hard to compare to other sales because land in the Lucindale district is so tightly held. There have been few comparable properties for sale in the district,” Mr Pearce said.

“Compared to other sales throughout southeast South Australia it would be right up there.

“We had expectations it might make about $15 million, but it exceeded expectations exponentially.”

Bidding on Friday for Binbrook started at $10 million before climbing to $22 million as a number of potential buyers pushed the bidding higher.

The McWaters family sold their Lucindale farm at auction.

Binbrook was initially issued as a soldier settlement block in the 1950s before the McWaters expanded the property twice in the 1980s.

Earlier this year the Naracoorte Lucindale region was named as one of the top cattle and sheep regions in Australia.

In the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data the Naracoorte-Lucindale region was named as the second highest region in terms of volume of sheep and lambs with 1.1 million head and ranked 14th in terms of value at $49.7 million.

At Binbrook, land comprises a balance of solid red and chocolate loam over clay grading to heavy black flats.

Two 32ha centre irrigation pivots and a 449.52ML water-taking allocation allow for pasture production with one area of the property also open to further development.

Binbrook had been used as a grazing property, both for breeding and finishing and has

historically grown crops including cereals and beans.

Recently the McWaters family had been producing mixed aged cross-bred ewes, lambing in autumn and finished through the late spring and summer months. Cattle are also traded off the property.

In December, 225ha of adjoining land is also scheduled for auction via TDC Livestock and Property.

Last week a livestock farm in the NSW Monaro region, which had been owned by the same family for six generations, was sold at auction for more than $16 million.