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Hancock Agriculture has purchased two blue-ribbon properties from Packhorse Pastoral Company for a reported $80 million.
The acquisition includes the 10,000-hectare Moolan Downs Aggregation located south-east of Roma in Queensland's Western Downs region, and the 8400ha Ottley Station situated west of Inverell in northern New South Wales.
The properties were listed alongside a third - the 8344ha Stuart’s Creek Station, situated 50km north-west of Roma - late last year following the death of Packhorse co-founder Tom Strachan, his son Noah and their pilot Garry Liehm in a light plane crash.
A statement from Gina Rinehart's Hancock Agriculture said the purchase was consistent with the company's strategy of acquiring first-class properties to support growth in their annual turnoff of 2GR branded fullblood and purebred Wagyu.
"These acquisition properties of Moolan Downs and Ottley will now be integrated into the Hancock Agriculture portfolio with immediate focus on essential maintenance and analysing and actioning areas including animal welfare, employee safety, the use of technology and innovation and improvements across the herds," the statement said.
"Hancock Agriculture, led by chair Mrs Gina Rinehart, will across Ottley and Moolan Downs implement our philosophy on animal welfare, noting our mantra that 'happy healthy cattle are the best cattle'."
The three properties, marketed by CBRE’s David Goodfellow and James Auty under an expression of interest process, had been strategically acquired by Packhorse Pastoral over the three years leading up to Mr Strachan's passing.
They had been utilised as 'grass motels' and carbon sequestration farms, in line with Mr Strachan’s passion for regenerative agriculture, and an agistment agreement with one of Australia’s largest cattle producers was in place.
Collectively, the three properties were rated to carry approximately 13,600 animal equivalents and were mostly used for growing out cattle.
In addition, the cleared and semi-cleared grazing lands and the naturally-timbered lands were subscribed to profitable carbon sequestration projects, instigated by the Packhorse management team and designed to provide both responsible environmental outcomes and substantial additional income.
“This is a strategic portfolio of properties with very responsible and experienced management in place, which is designed to maximise the use of the expansive grasslands in a reliable rainfall area while capitalising on numerous opportunities for improved carbon sequestration,” CBRE’s Mr Goodfellow said at the time of the listing.
“Packhorse is a recognised leader in carbon farming initiatives and the environmental initiatives at these stations are well ahead of industry norms, with clearly established carbon baselines and management practices.”
Each property features improvements including generous staff accommodation, cattle handling facilities, reticulated livestock watering systems, various shedding and grain storage facilities, excellent access, and subdivisional fencing to optimise both grazing and soil carbon management efficiencies across the pastoral areas.
Packhorse Pastoral Company managing director Geoff Murrell said the major priority during contract negotiations was to achieve optimal outcomes for shareholders, and the sale of Ottley Station and Moolan Downs had met their financial expectations.
