Merriwa Pastoral Company to sell Mallee cropping portfolio for $10m-plus

With rare size and scale, a 1400ha Mallee cropping farm has hit the market with offers tipped to exceed $10m.

A large-scale Mallee cropping portfolio has hit the market with significant offers expected to come as investors try to lock up increasingly valuable northwest Victorian land.

The Merriwa Pastoral Company portfolio is for sale with the cropping portfolio expected to fetch more than $10m as strong demand rolls in.

Merriwa Pastoral Company owns the 1484.05ha cropping enterprise, located at 230 Baulch Road, Normanville, and has an arable area of around 1436.40ha.

The portfolio comprises three properties, known as Home (373ha), Estate (420ha) and

Ryans (691ha) with the intention to sell in one line or separately.

Colliers’ selling agents Duncan McCulloch and James Beer are handling the sale, with Mr McCulloch anticipating high demand for some of the best value cropping country in the state.

“Dryland cropping properties in Victoria, and particularly the Mallee region, are highly sought after in the current climate,” Mr McCulloch said.

“Strong seasonal conditions and commodity prices, combined with a favourable interest rate environment, are driving demand for agricultural assets across the board, with a particular focus on cropping and grazing properties.

Picture: Supplied

“The scale of the portfolio will be attractive to both family farming groups and corporate investors, and the flexibility in being able to offer the properties within the portfolio for sale individually will further drive interest.”

The portfolio is being marketed as home to highly productive soil types and favourable topography, underpinned by average annual rainfall of around 357mm, in the typically drier than average Mallee Region.

The Normanville farms also include a four-bedroom main residence, three-bedroom dwelling, a cottage, multiple machinery sheds, workshop, hay shed, shearing shed, chemical shed, fuel storage tanks and silo complex.

The farms are located within 50km of Kerang, Boort, and Charlton and are for sale via Expression of Interest.

Earlier this month an 1100ha Swan Hill cropping farm was sold by the Fox family for almost $10m.