A number of Forbes farms are hitting the market this week, including one linked to an up-and-coming ag leader, while significant interest is expected for a Tasmanian carbon farm. Also, part of cattle baron Peter Sherwin's portfolio goes to a Vietnamese hotel developer. Read on to see what else has happened in property this week.
The CEO of Bettergrow, Zac Rowlandson, is offloading parts of his personal portfolio of prime fattening and cropping land in Warroo on the outskirts of Forbes. It follows the recent sale by the Rowlandson family of “Yarrangong North” at Forbes, for over $10m last year.
Bettergrow is a waste to compost and fertiliser operation that bought the Warragundi mixed-farming aggregation in NSW’s Mudgee region for $25 million in 2021. It is one of the largest agribusiness enterprises in the Central Tablelands and is engaged in regenerative agriculture and carbon farming supporting 3000 Angus breeders. It is part of the Borg Group founded by manufacturing and recycling brothers John and Michael Borg. Mr Rowlandson has been CEO of Bettergrow since September 2021.
With over 13km of Lachlan River frontage and a significant 1,194ML (521ML Bore), (673ML River) of water rights, 'The Angle' is a mixed use property with three boom irrigators offering improved pasture for fattening up to 10,000 lambs per year, while the remainder of the acreage has been variously planted for cotton, corn and other cereals.
Sitting on 472ha, it features a modern shearing shed with large undercover working area, 1,000 head Prattley sheep yards, extensive machinery and hay sheds and 2 grain silos.
It has high flow irrigation bore & river irrigation pump with electronic meters acorss 27 paddocks, and 40km new fencing throughout, which allows for 70ha of riverside timbered grazing.
The property is anchored by a magnificent, four bedroom country homestead with sprawling verandas and a riverside setting. Included with $2m of water rights, price is guided at offers of $9-10m via Agri Rural NSW. EOI by 7 December.
Also up for sale is another property also owned by Mr Rowlandson, 'Montana', a 452ha grazing and feed producing property with 1.2km dual creek frontage, via Crooked Creek. 270 acres is improved pasture with 100 acres planted to established lucerne and native grasses.
The property is for sale for $2.35m which includes $100k of water rights (need not be included.)
Agri Rural NSW is also representing 470ha of cropping/grazing property with the aggregation of two properties 'Nerreman' and 'Otisa' 40 mins west of Forbes. Nerreman, at 122ha also has 3.7km of Lachlan river frontage and a high flow bore capable 8-9ML/day. It's a second shot at success for 'farm-flippers' Peter and Samantha Grant who had hoped to sell it last June.
Mostly on alluvial red loam soils, it has a 2,000 tree citrus grove ready for commercial harvest, permanent pasture sown to 22ha, and has 58ha of sorghum.
'Otisa' sits on 347ha of heavy self mulching clay soils, developed for flood and row crop irrigation with 450ML of water via the Jemalong irrigation system. It was contracted this year for sweet corn and sorghum and in previous years was planted to cotton, popcorn, cereal grain.
The Nerreman/Otisa aggregation is guided at $9-10m via Josh Keefe at Agri Rural NSW. EOI closing 14 December.
Capture carbon in Tasmania’s Southern Midlands
An extensive development program, significant and secure water entitlements, and a forestry carbon project estimated to be worth 150,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) are expected to draw significant interest to the sale of Eastern Tiers, an hour north of Hobart in Tasmania’s Southern Midlands.
The 2,311-hectare irrigated and dryland holding, with an annual rainfall of 716mm, is suited to livestock and the production of numerous crops including potatoes, cereals, poppies, hemp, carrot seed, oilseed and legumes. Currently a three-year potato contract is in place with Simplot Australia.
A substantial 5,620ML of water entitlements includes 4,120ML of annual surface water entitlements, an annual bore water supply of 1,500ML and in excess of 4,000ML of water storage, along with newly constructed pumping infrastructure.
Development over the past two years has included construction of a new machinery/shearing shed complex, livestock yards and cottage, as well as 15 kilometres of exclusion fencing, roadways and 27km of internal fencing.
LAWD senior director Danny Thomas said Eastern Tiers would offer the successful buyer a diverse revenue stream business, with irrigated potatoes, cereals, livestock and carbon-derived income.
“Tasmania remains undervalued compared to other parts of the country, given its abundance of secure water reserves, new infrastructure and attributes that will be attractive to large local farming interests, institutional and international investors,” Mr Thomas said.
Eastern Tiers features 357ha of irrigable land, watered by four new Zimmatic centre pivot irrigators, with the opportunity to develop a further 459ha of irrigation.
While the property is made up of land types for cropping, sheep, beef and dairy production, another major feature is 379ha of forestry (recently planted) that uses plantation methodology to produce ACCUs.
The plantation forestry method requires accounting for carbon stock changes in trees, debris and harvested forest products, taking into account forest growth, disturbances and harvesting.
Each ACCU represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions stored or avoided, while building a harvestable timber asset at the end of the project.
With significant scope for further development and diversification on Eastern Tiers, Mr Thomas is expecting the Stonehenge property to appeal to a wide range of Tasmanian, mainland and overseas buyers.
Eastern Tiers is being offered for sale through LAWD by expressions of interest, closing at 12pm (AEDT) November 30.
Cattle Baron Peter Sherwin's Broadmere sold to Vietnamese developer
On the market for four years, the 259,000ha Broadmere Station in the Northern Territory has been sold for $10.5 million the AFR($) reports.
Once part of a network of 17 cattle stations stretching across the NT and WA’s Kimberley, the property was purchased by Mr Sherwin in 2017 for $7.4m, two years before his death.
Broadmere, 170 km east of Daly Waters in the Gulf of Carpentaria, has a carrying capacity of over 6500 cattle, but also boasts an escarpment of sandstone pillars known as the “Lost City”, making it well suited to ecotourism.
According to the AFR, the buyer is the Arthur Winston Group, owned by Vietnamese businessman Anh Tuan Do. The group is developing hotel properties in the Sydney CBD as well as in Darwin.
18,000ha "gem" in Central West QLD
In central west Queensland, the near 18,000ha 'Paradise Downs' is on offer for the first time in 30 years.
Located 20km East of Blackall, this property sits on typically highly productive country, featuring undulating lightly shaded open downs Mitchell grass country and developed Gidyea country boasting abundant stands of Buffel grass.
With 23 main paddocks and numerous holding paddocks, the property is well-watered by 5 Capped Artesian bores, providing water through a network of 400km of polyline to 65 concrete troughs, 13 tanks, and stock dams.
With the capacity to accommodate 2,000 breeders or 5,000*backgrounders, the heart of the site is the central steel cattle yards, connected to every paddock by laneways.
It offers a comfortable homestead, cottage, 2 steel machinery sheds, workshop, hay shed, and 6 stables with day yards.
Described by agent Bruce Douglas as a "gem", expressions of interest via Ray White Rural closing December 14.
Also in Queensland, 840ha of quality cropping country has just hit the market in Dalby. Sitting on 6 freehold titles, "Bellfields South" is consists of mainly deep black self-mulching clays, recently carrying 406ha of chickpeas, with 381ha fallow.
The property has a 54ML Irrigation water license, taking from Eastern Downs Springbok Walloon and has 2 bores, 5 tanks and a dam.
It also features a small set of timber/steel cattle yards with loading ramp, machinery shed and elevated grain silos.
