Three Victorian farms on the market for more than $33 million

A foreign investor is selling almost 5000ha of Aussie farmland, including three farms spanning a total of 2070ha in southwest Victoria. See the details.

A foreign investor is selling three southwest Victorian farms and a further four in northern NSW, as it seeks to wind up a 10-year stint in Australian agriculture.

Private UK-based investors have instructed management partner, Growth Farms, to divest the three livestock farms, which span a total of 2078ha in southwest Victoria, within 150km of each other, available as a whole or as three individual properties.

The South-West Aggregation comprises the 799ha Cascaes, at Kariah, 794ha Warrong, at Warrong, and 485ha Elwood at Macarthur, each acquired about eight or so years ago as part of a decade-long investment fund, which the owner now wants to end.

Recent farmland sales in the region indicate the three properties could field offers ranging from $16,000-$18,500 a hectare, or more than $33 million in total.

Elders Real Estate Camperdown selling agent Rob Rickard is handling the sale of the South-West Aggregation, and described the holdings as “extremely versatile farming country”.

“In my view this farmland is some of the best value carrying county, on a dollar per DSE (dry sheep equivalent),” he said.

Cascaes includes a four-bedroom brick veneer homestead surrounded by a mature garden, tennis court and detached double carport.

“The farms are ideally suited for someone looking for a high rainfall grazing country which performs year-in year-out. We are expecting interest from both local producers and also institutional investors.”

Cascaes, the largest asset in the South-West offering, is located about 15km north of Camperdown, comprising gently rolling country with arable clay loam soils and basalt rises and is fenced into 20 main paddocks.

Cascaes has carried 4500 July lambing composite-crossbred ewes plus 160 spring calving Angus heifers in recent seasons.

Warrong, is fenced into 30 main paddocks and offers infrastructure including a shearing shed, sheep yards, two steel cattle yards and two sheds.

Similarly sized Warrong, located 30km northwest of Warrnambool, has an estimated carrying capacity of 20 dry sheep equivalents per hectare with 4500 July lambing ewes and 200 trade cattle carried each season.

A further 40km northwest of Warrong at Macarthur is Elwood, which has operated as a mixed farming enterprise running 60 per cent sheep and 40 per cent cattle. Carrying capacity under the existing management is about 200 July-August calving cows with young stock and 2300 July-August lambing ewes plus lambs.

Meanwhile, on behalf of the same foreign investor, Growth Farms is also selling the 2832ha Carnarvon Aggregation, a dryland and irrigated cropping enterprise at Mullaley in the Liverpool Plains of northern NSW.

The aggregation comprises two hubs separated by 7km, the 2173ha Carnarvon (1335ha Carnarvon, 540ha Kairi and 298ha Part Tourable) and 659ha Dunroamin.

For sale by Moree Real Estate, the Carnarvon Aggregation is expected to receive offers worth $12,500 a hectare for arable land, plus infrastructure.

Growth Farms senior portfolio manager David Sackett is a key figure at the company which acquires and manages farmland for both private and institutional investors, after it was established by brothers Richard and Angus Taylor in 1999, initially as a farm-leasing business.

In 2020 Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor sold his holdings in Growth Farms Australia, while co-founder Richard remains a director of Growth Farms and has a key role of managing operations and acquisitions for client MH Premium Farms.