Each week, we take the pulse of rural property - from sales data to who’s making headlines. Check out this week's report from Kylie Dulhunty.
Size: 122,519ha
Location: Kimberley region, WA
Sale price: Undisclosed
One of the Kimberley’s best-developed pastoral holdings has changed hands, with ‘Kalyeeda Station’ sold to its West Kimberley neighbours, Nerrima Pastoral Company, in a significant walk-in, walk-out transaction.
The sale includes the 122,519ha lease, a Droughtmaster breeding herd, stock horses, and all plant and equipment.
Ministerial approval has been granted by the WA Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage.
Although the price remains undisclosed, when the property was listed in mid-2024 it was expected to attract offers of more than $30 million.
Situated about 100km from Fitzroy Crossing, ‘Kalyeeda Station’ spans 40,000ha of fertile flood plains nourished by the Fitzroy River and Kalyeeda Creek system, supporting an average annual turn-off of 3,000 to 3,500 steers and females.
LAWD Director Olivia Thompson, who marketed the property with colleague Simon Wilkinson, said its scale and efficiency reflected years of strategic investment.
“Over the past five seasons, ‘Kalyeeda Station’ has mustered close to 12,000 head of cattle per year, reflecting the significant capital investment the vendors have made in state-of-the art handling facilities,” Ms Thompson said.
“This has included a $900,000 centrally located cattle yard complex with capacity for 2,500 head, as well as quality fencing and a laneway system for efficient stock movement.”
Mr Wilkinson said the sale was a clear show of confidence in the state’s northern cattle sector.
“While we are unable to disclose the final sale price, we are pleased it was in line with the price guidance offered,” he said.
“The property attracted solid enquiry throughout the sale process, with four Expressions of Interest during the campaign.”
“The commitment of the Camp family to develop ‘Kalyeeda’ over the past 30 years, using technology-driven modern pastoral practices and sustainable land management, ensured it presented as an outstanding investment opportunity.”
‘Kalyeeda’s’ infrastructure includes 21 solar-equipped bores reticulating to steel tanks connected to Farmbot remote monitoring systems and rain gauges.
Purpose-built steel sheds cater to machinery, hay storage and stables, while the 1.8ha homestead complex provides extensive staff and manager accommodation.
A newly built 1200m gravel airstrip, completed in 2024, offers direct access to Fitzroy Crossing, Derby, Broome and Kununurra.
Size: 98ha
Location: Neerim South, VIC
Sale method: EOI closing December 10 at 5pm
Price guide: N/A
An iconic piece of Australia’s dairy history is up for sale, with the Johnson family listing their 98ha Neerim South property - the birthplace of the renowned Tarago Cheese brand - after 90 years of continuous ownership.
Ray White Drouin farm and rural sales consultant Steve Hodge said the holding at 2230–2236 Main Neerim Road was unlike anything else on the market.
“This property represents a unique piece of Australian artisanal cheese history combined with a thriving dairy operation,” Mr Hodge said.
“Located in the prime agricultural region of Neerim South, there are four titles for sale, including the factory accommodating the cheese manufacturing business and the dairy, together with extensive infrastructure.”
The sale includes a 1600sq m cheese factory, a 40-stand rotary dairy, and a three-bedroom, two-bathroom farmhouse currently occupied by the dairy manager.
The buildings sit on 10 acres, zoned Rural Industrial, with an additional 230 acres of productive grazing land surrounding them.
For David Johnson, who co-owns the property with his wife, the sale marks the end of a proud family legacy that began nearly a century ago.
“It’s been in our family for 90 years,” he said.
“One of the parcels of land my grandfather purchased in the 1930s/40s. My father bought the farm from him, and we bought my parents out in 2000.
“When the land was first purchased it was only 36ha back then – it was part of the soldier settlement blocks – our family have just kept adding to it over the years.”
The Johnsons were among the pioneers of Australia’s artisanal cheese movement, establishing Tarago Cheese in 1982.
It was one of the country’s first small-scale farmhouse cheesemakers.
“My parents established the Tarago brand in partnership with now-retired local cheese maker Laurie Jensen, who grew up on part of the farm we now own,” Mr Johnson said.
Although the cheese business was sold several years ago, it continues to operate from the same site under lease to Moondarra Cheese, which still sources milk directly from the farm’s 420-head dairy.
The dairy and factory sit just 30m apart, a proximity that helped define the brand’s authentic, farm-to-factory ethos.
With two of their three children now based in northern NSW and Queensland, the Johnsons have decided to act on their succession plan.
“I’d love to pass it down to the kids, but it’s too valuable as land,” Mr Johnson said.
“We’re looking forward to the next chapter. We’ve been preparing for this – it’s been part of a five-year succession plan.”
Just 2km from Neerim South township and within easy reach of Warragul and Drouin, the property offers fertile soils, reliable rainfall and sweeping views of the Tarago Reservoir and Baw Baw and Strzelecki Ranges — an exceptional opportunity to acquire a genuine slice of Victoria’s rural heritage.
Expressions of interest close on December 10 at 5pm, with interest coming from both local and interstate buyers.
Size: 269.12ha
Location: Blampied, VIC
Sale method: Online AuctionsPlus auction on November 28 at 11am (AEDT)
Price guide: N/A
A farming estate just minutes from Daylesford and Ballarat is set to capture strong interest when it heads to online auction later this month, offering vast scope for restoration, redevelopment and rural enterprise.
Set on 269.12ha (665 acres) across four titles, the property at 279 Eastern Hill Road, Blampied, will be auctioned online via AuctionsPlus on November 28 at 11am (AEDT) through Adrian Smith of Nutrien Harcourts Ballarat.
Located within one of central Victoria’s most desirable lifestyle corridors, the holding presents a rare combination of scale, location and untapped potential.
The original 1880s homestead - a four-bedroom character residence with period features - awaits restoration, offering the chance to create a significant rural retreat or landmark family estate.
Infrastructure is extensive, including a shearing shed, hay shed, three-bay machinery shed, cattle yards with ramp, nine dams, a working bore gravity-fed to a trough network, and seasonal frontage to Joyces Creek.
The property is divided into six main paddocks of open grazing, undulating and stony country protected by natural shelterbelts and native vegetation.
Mr Smith said the property has strong bones and offered genuine versatility.
He said there were six main paddocks with a mixture of open grazing, undulating and stony terrain, along with natural shelterbelts and native vegetation that offered wind protection and biodiversity.
He said it was possible to crop part of the property, but the property was probably more suited to grazing.
“It would suit somebody who falls in love with the house and the countryside. It is beautiful out there,” Mr Smith said.
“It’s a big slab of ground, so you’d probably carry on with cattle or sheep grazing.”
Just 8 kilometres from Daylesford, 15km from Creswick and 30km from Ballarat, the Blampied holding represents a rare opportunity to combine restoration, lifestyle and productive potential in one of Victoria’s most tightly held rural regions.
Size: 1,156ha
Location: Benalla/Moorngag
Sale method: EOI closing 4pm (AEDT) December 4
Price guide: N/A
A rare large-scale grazing aggregation in Victoria’s North East has hit the market, with ‘Illalangi’ and ‘Exford Park’ now offered for sale via expressions of interest closing on December 4 at 4pm.
Located just 14km south-east of Benalla, the aggregation at 501 Knight Road, Benalla, and 83 Martin Road, Moorngag, spans about 1,156ha (2,857 acres) of improved grazing country in a region renowned for its stable climate, mild seasons and reliable rainfall.
“‘Illalangi’ and ‘Exford Park’ present a rare opportunity to acquire one of North East Victoria's most productive and fully developed grazing enterprises,” the Elders listing said.
“Ideally located just 14km South-East of Benalla, with direct Hume Freeway access, this exceptional aggregation combines scale, fertility and infrastructure in a tightly held and climatically secure district recognised for its high rainfall and reliable pasture performance.”
The Benalla–Moorngag district forms part of Victoria’s Central and South-West Slopes and Plains agro-ecological region, with rainfall averaging 816mm per year.
The aggregation’s gently undulating landscape and deep red, brown and grey loam soils underpin its productivity.
“Water security across the aggregation is outstanding,” the listing said.
“Two high-yielding bores, extensive tank storage and multiple large catchment dams, including 6ML and 2ML storages, reticulate through a comprehensive trough network servicing every paddock.
“Blind Creek traverses part of the property, providing additional natural catchment and reliability.”
Pastures are highly improved and dominated by phalaris, ryegrass and clover, providing both productivity and seasonal resilience.
The holding supports a potential carrying capacity of about 17.8 DSE per hectare, which is equivalent to around 19,500 DSE at full potential.
“The productive base supports flexible enterprises, including beef breeding and finishing, prime lamb production or specialist stud operations,” the listing said.
Improvements include a renovated four-bedroom, three-bathroom homestead, along with a four-bedroom brick veneer manager’s residence.
Other improvements include modern shedding, covered steel cattle yards, a 500-head feedlot, and more than 40 paddocks linked by a central laneway system.
Elders agents Dave Colvin and Michael Everard are handling the EOI campaign, which closes at 4pm (AEDT) on December 4.
Size: 113ha
Location: Kongorong, SA
Sale method: EOI closing November 13 at 12pm
Price guide: N/A
After 100 years of family ownership, one of the Limestone Coast’s most admired rural estates, ‘Aberfoyle’, is being offered to the market for the first time in its history.
Set on 113ha at 213 School Road, Kongorong, just 20 minutes south-west of Mount Gambier, the property is being marketed by Ray White Mt Gambier principal Tahlia Gabrielli via expressions of interest closing today.
Lovingly maintained by three generations of the Lightbody family, 'Aberfoyle' began life as a soldier-settler dairy farm in the 1920s and has since evolved into a picturesque and productive mixed farming enterprise with an award-winning garden that has long been a local landmark.
The property is being sold by Dean Lightbody and his siblings, Janene and David, on behalf of their parents, who have transitioned into aged care.
Mr Lightbody said the property’s transformation from a working dairy to one of the region’s most admired gardens had created a truly unique offering.
“When dairy operations ceased in 1988, the property transitioned to beef cattle and prime lamb,” he said.
Mr Lightbody said his parents’ creativity and vision transformed the original farmstead into a welcoming country home and the surrounding paddocks into award-winning gardens.
“It was originally a small garden and when it was my brother’s 21st birthday she moved the fence and it never went back - the gardens kept expanding from there,” he said.
He described 'Aberfoyle as' a “secluded little haven”.
“Mum was a green thumb and got involved in the Open Home Garden scheme and won awards for her creativity,” Mr Lightbody said.
“Dad was a big collector of tools and very hands-on around the property.”
The estate sits across three titles and features a four-bedroom main residence with expansive open-plan living, the converted dairy guest quarters, and beautifully established gardens that have hosted countless community events, weddings, and charity fundraisers.
“The original cow shed has been converted into an Airbnb and the shearing shed can be converted into a function centre – there’s so much potential,” Mr Lightbody said.
“We would have loved to keep it in the family, but we know it's time for someone else to create their own memories here.
“This property gave us an incredible childhood – the freedom to explore, create, and grow. We owned every animal you could think of there – we had a dog, cat, a sheep and a horse!”
With electric fencing, cattle yards, a hay shed, a three-stand shearing shed, two equipped bores and an 8,520-kilolitre irrigation licence, ‘Aberfoyle’ is both practical and picturesque - a property where heritage, heart and productivity live in perfect balance.
Kylie Dulhunty is a journalist with more than 20 years experience covering everything from court to health. Today, Kylie loves nothing more than turning market trends, industry insights and epic property sales - residential, rural and commercial into captivating stories.