Southwest Victorian farm fetches $42,000-plus a hectare

A local farming family has purchased a southwest Victorian farm through auction for a district record price.

The Chislett family’s Naringal farm was sold through auction on Thursday.

A southwest Victorian mixed farming block has been sold for a staggering price, with the winning bid through auction reaching more than $42,000 a hectare.

Set in the tightly held Naringal region at 501 Swans Lane, 20km east of Warrnambool, Jean Chislett and family have sold their 82ha property after owning it for about 40 years.

It is understood the Membrey family, a local dairy farming family, purchased the property with a winning bid of $42,502 a hectare ($17,200 an acre) for a total of $3.485 million.

An estimated crowd of about 70 people attended the auction which was held on site on Thursday April 20.

Elders Real Estate Camperdown and selling agent Rob Rickard said the result was “outstanding” and a record price for the district.

“I can’t recall an agricultural property making a price in that range. The result was well above our expectations,” Mr Rickard said.

“It was a delight to have Mrs Chislett attend, she is in her 90s and she was amazed to see how drastically the value of the land had changed since they purchased it.”

Mr Rickard said there were four active bidders on the day with bids starting at $22,277 a hectare ($9000 an acre).

It is understood the purchasers have acquired the property to use as an add-on block to their existing dairy enterprise.

Mr Rickard said demand for farmland in the state’s southwest continued to be buoyed by favourable seasonal conditions, stabilising input costs and strong commodity prices.

Earlier this week Rabobank released a report which detailed Victorian median agricultural land prices jumped by 28 per cent last year, after a whopping 40 per cent increase the prior year.