This week's property round-up: A global energy firm lists a famed 450,000ha NT cattle station for $40m, while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has expanded its Australian holdings with the 5694ha Calrossie Farm in northern NSW—its second major buy in a year.
Size: 451,176ha
Location: Barkly Tablelands, Northern Territory
Sale method: Expressions of Interest, closing May 1
Price guide: About $40 million
A global energy and commodities firm has listed a renowned 450,000ha cattle station in the Northern Territory for sale with price expectations of about $40 million.
Hartree Partners, which is based in the US, has listed Benmara Station in the Barkly Tablelands region, about 100km west of the Queensland/Northern Territory border.
The sale comes about two years after Hartree Partners and the now defunct WealthCheck bought the station in 2023.
WealthCheck, an agricultural investment property, went into liquidation in 2024.
The 451,176ha Benmara station is now for sale via an expression of interest campaign through CBRE Agribusiness’ Andrew Loughnan and John Harrison.
The property has an estimated carrying capacity of 17,500 Adult Equivalents and presents a rare opportunity to acquire a large-scale cattle breeding property with growth and income diversification potential.
Benmara, along with its clean skin livestock, will be sold on an ‘as is, where is’ basis.
Mr Loughnan said interest was tipped to come from Australian pastoralists, institutions, overseas investors, and high-net-worth domestic investors, particularly those seeking a large-scale breeding operation to support a broader domestic supply chain.
“Benmara has been largely destocked over the past 18 months,” he said.
“During this period, the property has benefited from good rainfall and better pasture growth, making the clean skin cattle an attractive prospect for an astute operator.”
Benmara features diverse landscapes and pasture types, including lateritic and sandstone plains, alluvial floodplains, granite plains, clay plains, and sandstone hills.
Existing improvements include a well-appointed homestead compound comprising two residences, staff quarters, a kitchen, a storage shed, machinery shedding and a cattle yard.
“Benmara boasts secure and well-developed water infrastructure with further scale for expansion,” Mr Harrison said.
“The current owners are also undertaking a significant fencing program, replacing both sections internally and along the eastern boundary.”
Size: 5694ha
Location: Near Moree, NSW
Sale price: N/A
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has expanded its Australian farmland footprint, acquiring the 5694ha Calrossie Farm in northern NSW – its second major purchase in less than a year.
Situated 45km north of Moree, Calrossie Farm – formerly known as the North Star Aggregation – was sold to Alkira Farms, the Australian subsidiary of the Church’s investment arm, Farmland Reserve.
Growth Farms Australia confirmed it has entered into an agreement to manage the property on behalf of Alkira Farms, after representing the buyer in the transaction.
The farm, which comprises three properties – 2204ha Marlow, 2269ha Kirewa and 1221ha Calrossie – was gradually assembled by US-based Proterra Investment Partners from 2018.
Initially offered to market in 2022 and again last year, Calrossie was part of Proterra’s broader 23,595ha One Tree Portfolio, which included two other Queensland aggregations: Umbercollie (7934ha) and Jandowae (9966ha).
Those assets remain on the market, with the full portfolio tipped to attract offers above $250 million.
While the value of the Calrossie sale has not been disclosed, it has received Foreign Investment Review Board approval.
LAWD’s Danny Thomas and Elizabeth Doyle brokered the deal.
Roughly 93 per cent of Calrossie is arable, producing winter crops like wheat, barley, canola and chickpeas, with potential for cotton and sorghum in summer.
The acquisition follows the Church’s high-profile purchase last year of the 26,885ha Worral Creek Aggregation in southern Queensland, a deal estimated at between $300 million and $350 million.
Size: 313.5ha
Location: Fiery Flat, Victoria
Sale method: AuctionsPlus auction at 10:30am on April 17
Price guide: About $40 million
A rare Central Victorian holding with significant river frontage is drawing strong local interest ahead of its online auction next month.
Known as ‘The River Farm’, the 313.5ha property on Loddon West Rd, Fiery Flat, will go under the hammer via AuctionsPlus at 10:30am on April 17.
F.P Nevins & Co Director James Nevins said interest had exceeded expectations, particularly from within the local farming community.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the general local inquiries,” he said.
“Neighbours as well as a large corporate entity as well. I’ve spoken to a manager about it but I don’t know if it will transpire into anything further than that.”
Set across five titles and offered as a whole, the property boasts about 1.5km of Loddon River frontage and is also intersected by Hope Creek.
“It’s been offered as a whole. It’s been run as a whole for the current tenure and the previous tenure, which… that family owned it for about 50 to 60 years,” Mr Nevins said.
The property comprises mostly arable land with fertile black, grey and red loam soils, and includes a 2ML high-reliability water right and access to three-phase power.
It is well suited to both cropping and grazing.
“They’ve had some terrific crops on it,” Mr Nevins said.
“Last year was a cereal crop, but it can very easily do canola because it’s a mix of heavy black and grey and red loam base.”
The current owner, who has held the property for just under three years, is selling in order to pursue another opportunity.
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.