Six northern cattle properties hit the market
A 147,500ha cattle station, formerly owned by Gina Rinehart, is one of several notable recent listings across the NT and Queensland.
More than 300,000ha of notable northern Australian agricultural farmland have hit the market with the listing of multiple stations, properties and aggregations in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Sprawling NT cattle station, Aroona Station, formerly owned by Gina Rinehart, is back on the market less than three years after changing hands.
The Di Giorgio family from South Australia’s south east has listed the 147,500ha Aroona Station, located in the Upper Victoria River District, 90km southwest of Katherine.
In December 2021 the Di Giorgio family, who owns a winery in SA’s Coonawarra district and also run sheep and cattle, purchased the station from Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture but the property is now back on the market.
No price guide has been offered for the station, which is for sale walk-in walk-out, with a Grey Brahman herd of more than 14,000 head of mixed aged cattle.
Prior to the sale of Aroona Station in 2021, Ms Rinehart had owned the property since 2017 after acquiring it from the McLoughlin family for a reported $20 million.
Colliers agents Jesse Manuel and Rawdon Briggs are handling the sale with expressions of interest closing Friday, July 5.
“Aroona Station is a tremendous breeding and backgrounding property and would also fit neatly into a larger supply chain operation as a value-add depot asset for young cattle,” Mr Manuel said.
“The owners have also recently obtained a clearing permit for nearly 4000 hectares.”
Aroona Station has a carrying capacity of around 15,000 adult equivalents run on a mix of red and black soil plains, with light to densely timbered vegetation. Grasses typically include blue grass, Mitchell grass and Tippera tall grass.
RAY SCOTT PASTORAL PORTFOLIO
107,503 hectares
Vendors: Scott family (Mt Gambier, SA)
Price: Undisclosed
Meanwhile across the border a six-farm Queensland aggregation, spread 1000km from St George in the south to Charters Towers in the north, has been listed for sale by the Mt Gambier-based Scott family.
The 107,500ha Ray Scott Pastoral Company portfolio has been listed for sale after several generations of the Scott family built the aggregation, including the late Ray Scott, who significantly expanded the pastoral holdings over the last 20 years.
No price guide has been provided for the portfolio, with a sales process to formally launch in early June 2024 via Elders Real Estate.
Comprising four distinct hubs, the portfolio includes the 59,517ha Carse O Gowrie property at Ravenswood on the Burdekin River, the Fairfield Aggregation at Bauhinia, including Fairfield North (7536ha), Fairfield Central (7,859ha) and Fairfield South (13,160ha).
The 8907ha Echo Hills property at Surat and 10,526ha Ingaby at St George on the Balonne River are also for sale.
The portfolio, capable of beef breeding, fattening and extensive dryland farming, is expected to attract “strong interest from all segments of the market with strong competition for individual parcels, combinations of assets and for the portfolio as a whole,” executive general manager network Tom Russo said.
ELTHAM AGGREGATION, LONGREACH QLD
15, 779 hectares
Vendors: Tim and Kerry Joseland and family
Price: Undisclosed
Owned by Tim and Kerry Joseland and family since 1999, the Eltham Aggregation comprises 15,779ha of productive alluvial plains as well as open and timbered downs country across three freehold titles, with an estimated carrying capacity of 1575 adult equivalents.
Located 116km south of Longreach, the Eltham Aggregation offers water security with 15km of double frontage to the Barcoo River supported by 13 dams, 17 permanent and other seasonal waterholes, and a network of tanks and troughs across the property.
The Aggregation also benefits from a mix of trees that can be used for productive scrub feeding if required, with land types comprising 4674ha of hard gidgee (30 per cent), 2892ha of boree wooded downs and 2171ha of open downs.
LAWD are handling the sale of the Eltham Aggregation via expressions of interest, closing Thursday, June 20.
MARYVALE, ALPHA QLD
11,796 hectares
Vendors: Bunderra Cattle Company (Pickersgill family)
Price: Undisclosed
The Pickersgill family’s Bunderra Cattle Company has listed its 11,772ha backgrounding and finishing property in Central Queensland’s tightly-held Alpha region.
Operating a certified organic beef business, the Pickersgill family own more than one million hectares across 13 properties predominantly in the Rolleston region as well as Barrow Creek and Daly Waters in the NT.
Comprising two freehold titles and one leasehold title, Maryvale has a total estimated carrying capacity of 5000 adult equivalents, pending seasonal conditions.
No price guide for the property has been offered.
“Maryvale is a certified organic grazing property, with current certifications meeting the Australian National Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Produce, and the United States Department of Agriculture Organic Standards,” LAWD director Grant Veivers said.
“The property also benefits from average annual rainfall of 564mm and a productive mix of pasture including excellent stands of buffel grass.
“Maryvale is securely watered by seven sub-artesian groundwater bores, 21 earth dams – all of which provide open access to livestock – and has the added bonus of frontage to local creeks, providing seasonal waterholes and some floodout benefits.”
Maryvale is for sale via expressions of interest closing, Thursday, June 20.
BURNBRAE, MOONIE QLD
2500ha
Vendors: Campbell family
Price: district values of $4694-$4941 a hectare ($1900-$2000 an acre)
Elsewhere in the state, the Campbell family is selling its 2500ha southern Queensland beef cattle enterprise, Burnbrae, located at Moonie, 99km west of Dalby.
Owned by the Campbell family for 57 years, no price guide has been offered for the property, but recent sales in the area have achieved rates in the vicinity of $4694-$4941 a hectare ($1900-$2000 an acre).
JLL Agribusiness are handling the sale via expressions of interest closing June 6.
GOWAN STATION, BLACKALL QLD
18,077 HECTARES
Vendors: Blue Sky Beef (Damien Frawley and investors)
Price: Undisclosed
Blue Sky Beef has listed its 18,077ha Gowan Station, located 70km south of Blackall and home to a certified organic enterprise with a carrying capacity of 3000 livestock.
Formerly owned by the Consolidated Pastoral Company, Blue Sky Beef purchased the property about eight years ago.
Former Queensland Investment Corporation boss and current Mirvac director Damien Frawley and his wife Jodie, reportedly control about 37 per cent of Blue Sky Beef through their Stonehouse Pastoral Company, while the McGuinness family and experienced cattle station operators Stewart and Emma Taylor are also investors in the group.
Ray White Rural agents Bruce Douglas, Andrew Turner and Wally Cooper of Rural Property and Livestock are handling the sale via auction on June 14.
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