Northern Victorian dairy sold in eight-figure deal

A 760ha dairy farm near Echuca, with an 800-cow herd, has been snapped up in a multimillion dollar transaction. See the details.

An institutional-grade northern Victorian dairy farm has changed hands after it was sold to the dairy arm of a mammoth Canadian pension fund in an eight-figure deal.

The 763ha Kanyapella dairy, located 12km east of Echuca, was purchased by PSP Investments, via their corporate dairy arm Aurora Dairies - the largest dairy farming enterprise in Australia.

It is understood the transaction, completed walk-in walk-out with a lactating herd of 800 Holstein-Friesians cows, was worth $16.15 million.

The Kanyapella property was listed for sale in November last year by a pair of New Zealand investors, including vendor Patrick McMonagle, following about 20 years of ownership.

Spread across 14 titles, the Kanyapella dairy has a peak milking capacity of 1000 cows, with its current 800-cow herd producing an annual average of 572,736kg milk solids.

A pair of New Zealand investors have sold their northern Victorian dairy farm to giant Canadian pension fund, PSP Investments’ Aurora Dairies.

A dairy complex comprising a 60-bale rotary with cup removers, 24,200-litre vat, eight silos, 300-cow yards underpin operations at Kanyapella, while irrigation is supported by 377ML high-reliability water from the Goulburn River, 375ML from the Warrigal Creek on one boundary, unlimited high-reliability, high-flow diversion from the Warrigal Creek and 275ML from a lagoon.

JLL Agribusiness agents Chris Lawlor and Jock Grimshaw handled the sale and said the Kanyapella property drew multiple formal offers from local, corporate and international interests.

“The strength of interest in this highly productive dairy enterprise, which lies along the Goulburn River near Echuca, was underpinned by last season’s record milk prices, with reduced supply in northern Victoria driving strong competition among processors,” Mr Lawlor said.

The Kanyapella dairy was sold with its lactating herd of 800 Holstein-Friesians cows.

“It further serves as a vote of confidence in the ongoing strong performance of high-quality turnkey assets.”

“Quality properties of scale such as Kanyapella continue to draw strong interest from institutional and agricultural buyers,” Mr Grimshaw said.

“We’ve particularly noted a tangible increase in inquiries from foreign capital, drawn to the stability and strength of the sector.”

The Aurora Dairies portfolio now spans 55 dairy farms operated across more than 20,000 hectares in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, with 48,000 milking cows producing an estimated 280 million litres of milk.

In recent years Aurora paid $55 million for 2500ha of dairy farms in Victoria’s Gippsland region from Gray Wigg. Two years later it purchased a further four Gippsland dairy farms as part of Ace Dairy Holdings’ $70 million, seven-farm portfolio.

PSP Investments, the pension fund for the Canadian public sector, Canadian armed force and the world-famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is the largest investor in Australian agriculture by value, holding $7.5 billion worth of assets.