Woolnorth dairy sold to Victorian farmers

A Chinese businessman has offloaded a 700ha dairy, the largest in Tasmania’s mighty Woolnorth portfolio, for millions. See the details.

Xianfeng Lu has sold the 717ha Denium Dairy, the largest inside the Woolnorth gate.

The biggest dairy in Tasmania’s mighty Woolnorth Van Dairy portfolio is in Australian ownership for the first time in its storied history.

Victorian husband and wife dairy farmers, Harper and Oonagh Kilpatrick, have purchased the 717ha Denium Dairy, from Chinese businessman Xianfeng Lu’s Van Dairy Limited.

Regarded as the largest dairy farm inside the historic aggregation, the Kilpatrick family acquired the property on January 30, marking the first part of the Van Dairy’s 9500ha Woolnorth portfolio to sell since it was listed last year.

The value of the deal remains undisclosed, however, when the portfolio hit the market recent property transactions in the North West Tasmanian region suggest a median price of almost $26,000 per hectare.

“I am thrilled that the proud dairy tradition that we cemented through Van Dairy Limited will be continued by the new owners of Denium Dairy,” Mr Lu said.

“This parcel of land is an incredible piece of Woolnorth that is steeped in history and rich in agricultural value.

“I am confident that the new owners will reap great reward not only from the dairy farm, but also from being a part of the remarkable local community.

Mr Lu on one of Woolnorth's dairy farms.

“It has been an honour to be the owner and custodian of one of Australia’s most important historic agricultural properties. North West Tasmania will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Built in 1997, Denim dairy comprises more than 700ha of pastures, three houses and a 50-bail rotary dairy located on the far eastern border of Woolnorth, 30km west of Smithton.

In April last year Mr Lu announced he was selling the nearly 200-year old Woolnorth portfolio, in anticipation of an expiring long-term milk supply agreement with Fonterra.

The remaining land holdings are on the market via Nutrien Harcourts Tasmania, including almost 9000ha of dairy and grazing land, seven rotary dairies and the Van Diemen’s Land Company name and archives. Discussions continue with interested parties.

Oonagh and Harper Kilpatrick.

Van Dairy, owned by Chinese billionaire Xianfeng Lu, acquired Woolnorth when it bought 25 dairy farms in 2016 for $280m from the Van Diemen’s Land Company, one of Australia’s biggest and oldest dairy farming businesses.

In its almost 200-year history, Woolnorth had only ever been owned by offshore parties, from the UK, New Zealand and China – but in November 2021 TRT Pastoral paid more than $120m for a 6000ha slice of the historic aggregation.

In March last year Prime Dairy, the dairy farming arm of Melbourne-based fund manager Prime Value Asset Management, bought a 700ha dairy inside the Woolnorth gate for $15m.

The transaction was the second time Prime Value Asset Management had secured assets from the Van Dairy Group, after paying $62.5m for 11 properties, which included 5000 cows and 2200 hectares of land at Circular Head in 2021.

In 2023 the Kilpatrick family sold a 495ha dairy at Koroit in southwest Victoria which they had owned for 15 years, having previously been dairy farmers in Northern Ireland.