Western Australian grain king John Nicoletti to sell $40 million-plus Frog Loch Aggregation

One of Western Australia’s biggest grain growers is selling a 41,100ha aggregation as he consolidates his mammoth agricultural holdings.

One of Western Australia’s most prominent grain farmers has listed a 41,178ha aggregation of mixed farmland for sale as part of consolidating his mammoth agricultural holdings.

Considered one of the state’s biggest grain farmers, John Nicoletti and his wife Julie are selling the Frog Loch Aggregation, located in the eastern wheatbelt 5km from Southern Cross and 105km from Merredin.

Offers of more than $40 million are expected for the property, which was aggregated by Mr Nicoletti during the past eight or so years.

LAWD senior director Danny Thomas is handling the sale alongside Simon Wilkinson and William Morris, with expressions of interest closing on November 10.

Mr Thomas said he expected interest in the Frog Loch Aggregation to solely come from institutional buyers.

The Frog Loch Aggregation has been consolidated during the last eight years ago.

“Mr Nicoletti is almost 70 years old now and he is taking the opportunity to put the aggregation to the market,” Mr Thomas said.

“We expect it will be exclusively institutional buyers. It is an institutional scale mixed farming opportunity located in the highly regarded eastern wheatbelt region of Western Australia.”

About 85 per cent of the aggregation, or 35,131ha, is considered arable with a mix of wheat, oat and barley crops alongside sheep grazing pursuits.

Cropping and sheep pursuits are primarily run at Frog Loch.

Last year oat crop yields were 2.7t a hectare while wheat crop yields were about 2.2t to the hectare.

Existing improvements across the aggregation include machinery shedding, hay shedding, workshops, 5950t of grain storage, fertiliser storage, shearing sheds, and sheep and cattle yards. There are also 15 residences.

The aggregation’s plant, equipment and about 10,000 Merino ewes will be made available as part of the sale.

Mr Nicoletti’s listing comes after the grain king listed his 45,000ha Apache Agriculture Portfolio for sale in December 2021.

WAA grain grower John Nicoletti.

The Western Australian farms, split across two aggregations in the Lake Grace and Mount Marshall shires, remain for sale privately with negotiations ongoing.

Previously Mr Nicoletti sold his the 200,000ha Baladjie aggregation in 2019 for about $60 million to the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company.

He also sold his WA John Deere dealership network to the South African-based AFGRI. In 2021 he sold his share in Murray River Land (MRL) and Ulupna Pastoral Company to ROC Partners.