One of Queensland’s pioneering sheep stations is set to fetch $50m after being listed publicly for the first time ever, as three separate Victorian holdings are tipped to attract a combined total sum in excess of $25m. Read on to find out more and get your weekly rural property fix.
One of Queensland’s pioneering sheep stations listed publicly for the first time ever
Warroo Station [Paywall] in Queensland’s southern Darling Downs region has been listed publicly for sale for the first time since its establishment by Australian wool industry legend, Frederick Bracker, in 1849.
Expected to fetch around $50m walk-in, walk-out, the 14,435ha property was originally leased by Frederick Bracker in 1849 to establish the first stud Merino breeding operation in Queensland.
The property was then taken over in 1911 by the Goodrich family, who managed Warroo for over 120 years before listing it for sale yesterday.
Renowned as one of the region’s best mixed grazing assets, Warroo produced the world’s first 11.9-micron wool in 2004 and today continues to offer significant opportunity for large-scale, high-quality sheep and wool production, with a carrying capacity of 28,500 DSE.
With over 70 dams and 20 permanent and seasonal springs, the property is well-watered and also includes the 5-bedroom Warroo homestead, complete with tennis court and swimming pool.
Listed for sale by Colliers Agribusiness, expressions of interest for Warroo Station close on 16 November.
Trio of Victorian farms set to attract over $25m total
The Victorian property market has shown no signs of slowing down as three separate holdings in the state are expected to attract a combined total of over $25m [Paywall].
Goulburn Valley’s Brooks Aggregation is the first of the holdings in question, consisting of a total area of approximately 855 hectares divided into the Brooks (219ha), Frankies (263ha) and Akers Road (372ha) parcels.
Offered for sale as a whole or individual parcels by Nutrien Harcourts Kilmore, the Brooks Aggregation is set to attract between $8648-$9389 a hectare and can be utilized for either mixed farming or exclusively cropping.
The second of the Victorian farms to be offered is 820ha mixed farming property Selkirk Rises, located at Mingay in Victoria’s tightly held Western District.
Currently used to operate breeding and fattening programs for sheep and beef cattle alongside a 100ha canola crop, Selkirk Rises is expected to draw in offers equivalent to $10,000 a hectare through an expressions of interest process managed by Charles Stewart Real Estate, closing 30 October.
The third and final holding set to send the combined price of the three properties into the $25m mark is 252ha dairy operation Simstone, located at Condah in Victoria’s southwest.
Offered for sale by Charles Stewart Real Estate, Simstone features a 350-cow dairy alongside a 100-tonne on-farm grain storage, a 5-bay machinery shed, 100-head capacity calf shed and a 5-bedroom family home.
Offshore ownership of rural property dips to 12.3%
In other news, foreign ownership of Australian agricultural land has fallen to a seven-year low [$AFR] as offshore investors look to capitalise on the recent highs of the rural property market.
The latest data from the Foreign Investment Review board – while only current until June 2022 – displays that foreign interest in Australian agricultural land has fallen by 10% since June 2021, with offshore investors currently having ownership of 12.3% of Australia’s total farmland.
In June 2021, approximately 53 million hectares or 14.1% of Australian agricultural land was owned by foreign interests – and now, latest estimates indicate the total farmland area owned by offshore parties is down to approximately 47.71 million hectares.
Of all the countries investing in Australian farmland, China owns the most agricultural land in Australia, with 2% of all foreign-held farmland under Chinese ownership. According to the AFR report, only 750,000 hectares of that is freehold land. Meanwhile, Canada has noticeably increased their Australian agricultural holdings in recent times, while all other countries have reduced their investments.