This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A PROFITABLE livestock opportunity with a renewable energy lease, Walwa Homestead, has entered the market after 37 years under a single family.
The 1,046-hectare Walwa Homestead is located south of Crookwell in New South Wales and boasts a combination of improved pastures, droughtproof water supply and renowned wool producing country, in addition to a secure supplementary income from 13 wind turbines.
Tim Corcoran from LAWD, alongside Bill Frew and Jim Guilfoyle from Delta Agribusiness, are managing the sale via an expressions of interest campaign.
Owned by the McCormack family for nearly four decades and includes the well-known Walwa Merino stud, which has a history of producing high yielding, white wool and record sheep prices.
“It’s a very reliable property for water and rainfall and we’ve worked hard to drought-proof it. In 37 years, we’ve never had to use the water in the lake for livestock, even though we came close in the millennium drought of the 2000s,” said Alan McCormack, owner.
The operation has a carrying capacity of 8,090 DSE and is currently running 300 Merino stud ewes and 100 rams as well as a self-replacing Merino flock of 1616 ewes, including 500 Merino ewes joined to Border Leicester Rams, plus 800 Merino wethers and 560 mixed sex hoggets.
As well as 200 breeding cows in a self-replacing system, and fattening steers to above approximately 500 kilograms liveweight.
Improvements include a new five-stand shearing shed and sheepyards, two new 60-tonne Kotzur silos and additional silo capacity of 140 tonnes, machinery sheds, a workshop and hayshed. And a large 110,000 litre tank supplies water for the shearing shed, new sheep and cattle yards and holding yards
“The property was owned at one time by the Merriman family of Merryville Merino stud, and Bruce Merriman said some of the best wool he’d ever seen came off Walwa. Two years ago our Merino ewes cut seven kilograms of wool and returned $100 per head,” added McCormack.
“In 2020, before the property was divided up, we sold 800 first cross Merino-Border Leicester ewes at Yass for $420 per head and 14-month-old steers for $3000 per head at Wagga Wagga. It’s a good fattening place, made up of very soft country.”
The homestead also features 540-hectares of improved pasture varieties including fescue, cocksfoot, rye grass and sub clovers with scope to sow a further 125-hectares and the balance comprising native perennial grass and clover.
The renewable energy component of the property includes 13 wind turbines which are part of the Gunning Wind Farm of 31 turbines owned by Spanish construction and renewables company, Acciona.
With the paddocks under the turbines still used for grazing and the current lease expires in 2038.
The property also includes the historic six-bedroom two bathroom homestead built in 1913 with established gardens and an additional manager’s residence with four bedrooms and two bathrooms and a further three-bedroom cottage.
The expressions of interest campaign for Walwa Homestead is scheduled to close on 30 November 2023.
