This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AROUND $200 million worth of prime institutional-grade grazing, breeding and finishing land across Queensland and NSW has been lobbed to the market.
Headlining the offerings is the SLM Pastoral Portfolio, spanning 284,924 hectares across south-west Queensland and north-west NSW, offering a turnkey, regenerative grazing enterprise with established carbon projects opportunity,
The portfolio is comprised of Willacora (encompassing 47,901 hectares), Amenda (43,712 hectares), Padua Park (43,135 hectares), Garrawin (79,298 hectares) and Eureka (70,877 hectares), each of which is within a 100 kilometre radius in the Cunnamulla and Bourke regions.
More than $120 million is expected for the portfolio.
Global asset managers SLM Partners has strategically developed the portfolio as a grass-fed beef breeding and growing enterprise within its SLM Livestock Fund, which is nearing the end of its term.
SLM Partners’ general manager in Australia, Graham Finlayson said SLM was an “industry leader in commercial beef breeding and land regeneration, with its rotational grazing making the portfolio resilient to weather events”.
“Cell grazing has allowed us to ride out dry spells and make the best use of rain when it arrives,” he said.
“The land is in terrific condition now and we see plenty of room for further improvement.
“SLM has had a strong focus on increasing the perennial grass base across the aggregation over the past 12 years, which has improved the drought resiliency of the production system immensely.
The portfolio has an average historical carrying capacity of 15,000 adult equivalents, approximately 13,000 cattle, which have benefited from a focus on genetic optimisation and are being offered as part of the sale.
SLM has predominantly used Pharo Australia Angus bulls, with Rangelands Angus/Composites also in its program, and incorporated some Lasater Beef Master genetics from the United States through an AI program.
Custom designed cattle yards were installed across all properties between 2013 and 2015, with further improvements including shade installations, water points and hydraulic cattle crushes to assist with the safe handling of large numbers of animals.
In addition, SLM Partners was an early proponent of carbon project methodologies approved by the Australian government’s Carbon Farming Initiative. The portfolio has two carbon projects generating and selling ACCUs until at least 2039.
“The current portfolio is an extraordinary asset as it stands following the significant capital investment made by the vendors, however there remains scope for the new owner to further grow the enterprise by stocking at higher rates and accessing higher-value, regenerative grass-fed market channels,” said LAWD’s Danny Thomas, who is handling the sale with colleague Jaclyn Hope, and Nutrien Harcourts’ Greg Seller.
The for sale sign has been hung up Chiconi Grazing’s Taylors Plains at Mungallala, in south-west Queensland.
LAWD expects the market to see value in the property over $70 million, with livestock, plant and equipment also available to be purchased.
Noel Chiconi and his wife Jo-Anne bought Taylors Plains 22 years ago with the intention of fully developing the then drought-stricken property. It is now 33,959 hectares of highly fertile land with a conservative carrying capacity of 6,250 adult equivalents and features abundant stands of improved pastures, dominated by buffel grass and including bambatsi, fine cut rhodes, digitaria and creeping blue grass.
“The incoming buyer will need to spend virtually nothing on the property – the fencing, waters, cattle yards and accommodation are all in A1 condition, and Taylors Plains is in a highly regarded ‘safe’ area with an average of 605 millimetres of annual rainfall,” Chiconi said.
“We have been breeding Wagyu cattle since 2014 and turn off Wagyu feeder steers that do very well on the dense stands of buffel supported by native grasses. Our decision to sell has not been taken lightly, but it’s time.”
A skilled campdrafter and former president of the Australian Campdrafting Association for eight years, Chiconi and his wife have also invested in quality performance horses, and the majority of cattle work on Taylors Plains has been completed on horseback by their son Gary and his team. As such, the property has yards for horses, stables and a horse walker.
LAWD has the listing for Taylors Plains also, through agents Col Medway, Tim McKinnon and Grant Veivers.
