NT cattle station sold to Aussie farming family for $40m-plus

A Filipino property tycoon has sold his 559,500-hectare NT cattle station to renowned Queensland cattle graziers. See the details.

Romeo Roxas, via his entity Australian Green Properties, has sold the 559,500ha Murray Downs station.

A family of Central Queensland Wagyu beef producers have made their first purchase in the Northern Territory, after acquiring a 559,500-hectare cattle station from a Filipino businessman and property developer.

Romeo Roxas, via his entity Australian Green Properties, has sold the Murray Downs station, located 400km north of Alice Springs in the NT’s lower Barkly Downs region, trading it with the Hughes family’s Wentworth Cattle Co.

Headed up by Clermont’s Richard and Dyan Hughes, Wentworth Cattle Co has purchased Murray Downs for an undisclosed sum.

Mr Roxas listed Murray Downs for sale in July this year and it was expected to receive offers worth more than $40 million, walk-in walk-out, inclusive of a herd of 10,000 Santa Gertrudis cows, heifers and followers.

Wentworth Cattle Co are based at the 40,500-hectare Wentworth Station, where they have previously carried 10,000-head, and are supported by a breeding herd on their Strathalbyn property in Queensland’s Burdekin region, managed by Bristow and Ureisha Hughes.

Richard and Dyan Hughes’ son Bristow and wife Ureisha manage Strathalbyn Station, near Bowen QLD, grazing about 6500 head of cattle.

The Hughes family are also selling two of their other cattle stations this spring, listing the 18,970ha Tabletop Station near Collinsville, which is to be auctioned on October 3 by Queensland Rural.

The Hughes are also offloading the 3613ha Eleanor Farm near Kilcummin, to be auctioned on November 1 by RBV Rural.

Richard Hughes is also notably the brother of fellow renowned Wagyu cattle baron, Peter Hughes, whose operation with wife Jane spans more than 3.9 million hectares.

Wentworth Cattle Co, run by Richard Hughes and family, as part of the branch of the Hughes cattle dynasty.

Nutrien Russell Property and Livestock agent David Russell handled the sale of Murray Downs station, which attracted 13 inspections and multiple offers.

The property comprised soft mulga and buffel breeding land, able to run between 10,000 and 12,000 breeders, with the Davenport Ranges to the north providing flood-out country.

In 2015 Mr Roxas purchased the Murray Downs station as well as the 265,000ha Epenarra Station, later adding the 275,200ha Pine Hill station to his holding, before selling it in 2019.

Now aged 85, Mr Roxas had decided to consolidate his Australian agricultural assets, listing the Murray Downs station for sale.

A director of the Philippine Veterans Bank, Mr Roxas is also president of the Green Square Properties Corp and the Green Circle Properties and Resources Inc. who have planned cities in the Aurora and Quezon provinces on the eastern Philippines coast.