European family offices and carbon aggregators are turning their attention to grazing properties. See what else has caught our eye in property this week.
The rush by overseas investors into the regenerative ag space continues to hot up with The Weekly Times reporting that the 3605 hectare Gilgal Station near Cootamundra has been sold for a whopping $53.3 million to the agricultural and forestry arm of a private European family office.
It's a hell of a payday for the previous owners, Palgrove, who picked up the station for $30m in 2020. That's 78% return in less that four years.
With an estimated 34,000-38,000 DSE carrying capacity, Gilgal has been operating a cattle seedstock business of 520 commercial and stud females and bulls and a sheep enterprise with 5,500 head self replacing composite ewes. The new ownership will be aided by agricultural asset managers SLM Partners and Impact Ag Partners who will run a regenerative livestock enterprise.
The mixed farm property is back on the market at a discount
A property in Berthong NSW, 20kms from Young, that sold for $8.82 million just 20 months ago is back on the market for $8m.
Offered by LAWD, Littlebrook is a 457 hectare mixed farm cattle finishing operation, alongside a self-replacing merino and first cross ewe flock. 90 hectares have been sown to grazing crops (wheat, oats and canola), 150 hectares have been sown to grain only crops and 95 hectares have been sown to improved perennial grass and clover pastures. According to the vendor the property has a carrying capacity of 12 DSE/ha.
A property search shows Littlebrook last sold on 11 March 2022 for $8,820,000 after being held by the same owner since 2012. The purchase price back then was $1.07m. Sale is by private treaty.
Selling agent Tim Corcoran of LAWD said there is still plenty of appetite for quality country, pointing to the recent sale of the 443ha Maybank, near Holbrook for $10,000 per acre. The cattle backgrounding operation of up to 2,000 steers had a price guide of $12m and sold for just under that price.
With average annual rainfall of 717 mm, Mr Corcoran said the property had received widespread interest from buyers looking for consistent rainfall.
While the heat has come out of the market in terms of price rises, Herron Todd White (HTW) valuer Bart Bowen has been surprised how well the Southern Queensland property market has held up.
Speaking shortly after HTW released its monthly property outlook, Mr Bowen said that long-standing agricultural families sitting on strong equity positions are ready to pounce on neighbouring properties if they fit a strategic purpose. He said the mid-year sale of the 1315ha Western Downs Myalla and Glenvale aggregation for just under $10m was "testament to the continued strength of the market."
Mr Bowen anticipated that the recent rains would return some confidence to the Southern Queensland market, while the Ukraine war-led bump in grain prices would "underpin dryland cultivation and irrigated cropping moving forward."
The entry of carbon aggregators is starting to impact the market, he said, with price gaps opening up between properties. Those with existing exclusion fencing and good water sources were getting more competitive bids.
"Probably the hottest location in our southern Queensland coverage area has been the Bollon/St. George district where carbon aggregators are looking for relatively affordable, large-scale grazing properties," he said.
"A lot of people are talking $400 an acre for Category X land (commonly covered by non-remnant vegetation). A Category B property (with remnant vegetation) that had heavy timber coverage struggled to find interest. Ultimately, it ended up passing in and is still there with a price point of $120-150 per acre. So there's quite a big gap in Queensland just depending upon your vegetation management status."