Shorter family sell northwest NSW cropping farm, Litchfield brothers’ Condobolin farm passed in

Auctions in northwest and central NSW have returned mixed results, including the sale of a mixed cropping farm which significantly exceeded expectations.

Three notable northern NSW farm auctions have returned mixed results as the traditional spring selling season gets underway.

Mixed summer and winter cropping block, the 734ha The Plains, located 45km west of Wee Waa, was sold under the hammer on Thursday, September 7.

The property was sold for $8.8 million, or $11,989 a hectare, well above initial expectations. A local farming family was the successful purchaser.

Merino breeders David and Erica Shorter listed the property for sale last month where it was expected to receive offers in excess of $7400 a hectare.

Based at Burren Junction, located between Walgett and Narrabri, the Shorters wanted to offload The Plains to concentrate on their grazing enterprise.

Moree Real Estate selling agent Sandy Bailey handled the sale and said it was a strong result considering the dry season northwest NSW was currently experiencing.

“There were four registered bidders and I think the result shows the strength in the market when a property has that quality,” Mr Bailey said.

“This season hasn’t gone our way, but we had three good seasons before and this is a tightly held area- not a lot comes on the market there.”

The Shorter family have sold their mixed cropping property near Merah North.

Meanwhile further north, the Bailey family sold the 1214ha Pine Hills and Mossgiel aggregation, situated 16km east of Croppa Creek.

Pine Hills and Mossgiel were scheduled for auction on August 31, however they were sold prior to auction to an undisclosed buyer for an undisclosed sum.

The sale ends almost 60 years of single-family ownership, with the vendors Sam and Jenny Bailey relocating to the property Loomberah, near Tamworth.

Further south in central NSW a 3139ha aggregation of mixed cropping farmland near Condobolin was passed in at auction, despite a number of bids from the floor.

Located 90km northwest of Condobolin, in the Vermont Hill district, the 2781ha Glenkerry (plus 358ha leasehold land) was passed in at $5.95 million. It has since been relisted for private sale with a price tag of $6.5 million.

The Litchfield brothers’ Condobolin farm, Glenkerry, was passed in through auction.

Orange-based brothers Tim and Jason Litchfield are selling the property after a short three-year ownership stint.

About 93 percent of Glenkerry is considered arable, with more than 2023ha planted to wheat and 566ha planted to barley, both were to be included in the sale.

Finally, the scheduled auction of the 3115ha Glendale aggregation, located at Trundle has been delayed after late interest in the property.

Nutrien Harcourts selling agent Ainslie Toole said the auction of the aggregation has been rescheduled until September 21, a fortnight later than originally planned.

Anthony and Michael Drenkhahn are selling the property, ending a family tenure with the original portion, which dates back 130 years.