Yarrawonga Merino Stud’s Phillips family to sell Castle Hill

One of Australia’s premier Merino-producing families has listed a 1758ha NSW Central Tablelands sheep station for sale.

One of Australia’s premier Merino-producing families has listed an expansive NSW Central Tablelands sheep station for sale as they seek to reshape a significant property portfolio.

The Phillips family, of the highly regarded Yarrawonga Merino Stud, has offered the 1758ha Castle Hill aggregation to the market, where it is expected to receive offers worth more than $18 million as a whole.

Steve Phillips with wife Liz and their children, Sam and Georgia, are some of NSW’s most prolific Merino producers carrying about 75,000 dry sheep equivalent.

They operate several large-scale grazing enterprises, comprising a portfolio of more than 10,000ha across southern NSW at Yass, Monaro, Gundagai and the Yarrawonga Merino Stud at Harden, which was founded by Steve’s parents, Don and Thea Phillips, at Cooma in the NSW Monaro region in 1971.

Yarrawonga Merino Stud’s Steve Phillips with some of their Merino ewes. Picture: Nicola Bell

Located at Baldry, 44km northeast of Parkes, the Castle Hill aggregation is a three-farm holding that can carry 15,000-16,000 dry sheep equivalents. It has recently been stocked with 4000 Merino ewes and 250 Angus cows.

Vendor Steve Phillips said the family aggregated the holding after purchasing the original Castle Hill and Mountain View parcels in 2001. They then added the adjoining Fairy Mount a few months later.

“We’d driven around the district and this property was a standout with its very reliable annual rainfall of 650mm throughout the year and strong red soils,” Mr Phillips said.

“Around 80-90 per cent of it is arable so you can do pretty much anything with it.

“There is also potential to further increase productivity with greater fertiliser use or the development of grazing land to farming.”

Yarrawonga stud principal Steve Phillips (right) with Elders stud stock, NSW agent Scott Thrift.

The listing of Castle Hill comes after the Phillips family recently purchased a portion of Max and Roz Graham’s 1708ha Argyle aggregation, located 40km northwest of Yass.

The 893ha Argyle block was purchased by the Phillips family while the 815ha Green Gables was sold to neighbour Angus Metcalfe.

Earlier this year Argyle was offered with a $19,000-$20,000 a hectare ($8000 per acre) price guide.

LAWD is handling the sale of the property with senior director Col Medway expecting widespread interest in the property.

Castle Hill is a three-farm aggregation spanning 1758ha in the NSW Central Tablelands.

“This is a blue-ribbon property in a very safe district with the potential to either expand cropping area by developing grazing land or maintain the current focus on livestock production with supplementary fodder crops,” Mr Medway said.

“The Phillips’ long-term manager is also available to remain in place, providing the option for a seamless transition to new ownership.”

During their two-decade tenure the Phillips family has installed extensive fencing, renewed sheep yards, and cropped wheat, oats and canola for both grazing and grain harvest.

Castle Hill has 300 tonnes of grain storage, as well as two large homesteads, two shearing sheds and sheep yards, cattle yards, bull sheds, and hay and machinery storage facilities.