Size: 2842ha
Location: Mullaley, NSW
Sale method: Private sale
Sale price: $18.1 million
The final portion of the original Wyuna Aggregation has sold and is now back under Australian ownership.
The 2842ha Mount Nombi will settle in December after selling for $18.1 million to Dubbo producer Eric Sharwood.
Located 15km from Mullaley, between Coonabarabran and Gunnedah, the property was sold by the Singapore-based investment fund, Silverstrand.
LAWD Senior Director Col Medway said the sale completed the sale of the Wyuna Aggregation, which was initially offered for sale as a whole, some 4942ha, in late 2023.
He said 2100ha was then carved off and sold to neighbours for more than $4.4 million.
“Everyone laments when international funds come in, and there’s no doubt they compete with local farmers, but they purchased it in two chunks that was beyond what the locals could afford,” Mr Medway said.
“But in order to divest the asset, the best and highest value came from deaggregating the property and splitting it off to neighbours.
“It was good of the vendor to be open-minded, and to be willing to be flexible in regard to their selling method.
“It demonstrates that it doesn’t mean that this land doesn’t become available again in sizes that can suit local buyers.”
The Mount Nombi parcel has a proven capability to support cattle and sheep breeding and finishing enterprises, in combination with winter and summer dryland crop production.
The five-bedroom, two-bathroom homestead has been upgraded, while working improvements on the property included a machinery shed, workshop, farm office, cattle yards, sheep yards, airstrip and hangar, 10kW solar array and 960 tonnes of grain storage.
Hillcrest Station sold to Consolidated Pastoral Company in major acquisition
Size: 9548ha
Location: Middlemount, QLD
Sale method: Auction, passed in at $31.6 million
Sale price: Undisclosed, following negotiations
Renowned Central Queensland property, ‘Hillcrest Station’ has been sold to Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC), pending Foreign Investment Review Board approval.
The 9,548ha blue-ribbon property passed in at $31.6 million at auction, but was later negotiated for an undisclosed sum, Nutrien Harcourts GDL agent Dan Tyson said.
“As soon as you get over that $20 million (price point), a lot of people drop out in terms of who can afford it,” he said.
“So to still have five registered bidders at auction on a property going for that much is a good result.
“We predicted it would go for between $30 million and $35 million.”
Located 53km from Middlemount, ‘Hillcrest Station’ is celebrated for its premium Brigalow scrub country and fertile Isaac River flats.
The property features 13 main paddocks, four holding paddocks, and a comprehensive laneway system for efficient cattle management.
A large set of steel and timber cattle yards with road train access and a vet crush can handle significant numbers of cattle at any time.
Mr Tyson, who had the listing with Bill Reid, said the size of Hillcrest Station and the quality of the land made the property special, with other blocks in the area usually being much smaller.
“There really wasn’t a bad acre on the place, it was a really nice block,” he said.
Hillcrest’s infrastructure includes a three-bedroom homestead, a two-bedroom workers' cottage, a five-bay machinery shed, and a hay/feed shed. The property is well-watered with 10 dams and numerous waterholes, supporting a high-quality herd of 1,800 Red Brahman cattle included in the sale.
Mr Tyson said CPC would be integrated into CPC’s adjoining Jimarndy and Langley stations.
CPC bought Jimarndy for $48 million in 2022 and Langley for $17 million in 2023.
“It safens a lot of their country,” Mr Tyson said.
“If you look at all those blocks next door, a lot of them go under water with the Isaac River, whereas Hillcrest has a lot of high spots on it.
“It’s a really good safety net.”
Size: 67,500ha
Location: Claravale, NT
Sale method: Private sale
Price guide: $25 million
A Northern Territory cattle breeding operation made famous for receiving the first and last storms of the wet season has had a price cut.
The vendors at the 67,500ha Dorisvale Station, located about 350km south west of Darwin, are looking to sell for $25 million, including 15,000 head of cattle.
The property, in the well regarded Claravale region, had earlier been priced at about $30 million.
LAWD Director Olivia Thompson said Dorisvale Station had been tightly held by the Harrower family for 45 years.
“Dorisvale is famous for receiving the first and last storms for the wet season,” she said.
“The property has an abundance of natural surface water including Bradshaw Creek, the Daly River, numerous springs and creeks throughout, as well as overlying the Oolloo, Tindal and Jinduckin aquifers.
“Approximately 320ha has been sown to Jarra, which is baled for hay and utilised for feeding cattle in holding yards.”
Dorisvale Station has rich soils, including a combination of Kandosol and black soil flats and high average rainfall of 1100mm, along with structural improvements including a homestead, large workshop and accommodation for management and staff.
Ms Thompson said the station was renowned for its exceptional versatility in land use.
“The station provides for a remarkable breeding enterprise and has significant scope for further development and value-add potential, including dryland or irrigated cropping (cotton and fodder),” she said.
“A purchaser looking for a reliable breeding property with mixed farming interest would find the property absolutely ideal as the sale includes a well-bred herd of approximately 15,000 head of cattle (predominantly high-quality Brahman cattle), including circa 6,800 breeders.”
She said interest in the property had come from a combination of private equity groups and long established generational pastoralists from the Northern Territory and interstate.
