This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
NSW is seeing a flurry of transactional activity on the cropping assets front, including the $42 million sale of wheat farmer Ron Greentree’s Muttama Station in the state’s central-western plains whilst another $45 million property is put on the market.
A private Coonamble district farming family with existing agricultural interests in the region is the new owner of the 12,500-hectare station, according to The Weekly Times.
Around 10,600 hectares of Muttama Station are arable. Remaining country is suited to grazing. The station has a 5,000-head capacity feedlot, plentiful water infrastructure, with improvements including a four-bedroom homestead, three cottages, 16 silos, two grain sheds, and two cattle yards.
Greentree had owned Muttama Station for almost 30 years, mostly in partnership with Ken Harris. It was last farmland asset in NSW – he is now focused on developing irrigated cotton and corn in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, and cotton at Strathmore Station in Queensland’s Gulf Country.
Greentree took full ownership of the asset in 2019 and put it to the market in 2020 when it had expectations of more than $31 million.
ASX-listed investor offloading major holding
Meanwhile, ASX-listed Duxton Farms is selling its largest NSW cropping property, the 6,020-hectare Kentucky Farms in the central west’s Wirrinya district.
Expectations are set at $45 milion-plus.
“The board continues to action its plan to shift away from dryland cropping in order to expand and broaden its exposure to the Australian agricultural sector (both in terms of geographic footprint and mix of commodities produced),” Duxton Farms said in a statement.
“Strategic divestments such as the sale of the Kentucky property are intended to facilitate Duxton Farms’ investment in existing growth projects in Victoria and the Northern Territory and provide the company with greater flexibility in pursuing its stated strategic objectives, which may include further direct acquisitions and equity investments,” it said.
Duxton Farms earlier this year offloaded its large-scale dryland cropping property Timberscombe in NSW’s South West Slopes for $70 million to Altora Ag, the cropping arm of Canadian pension fund PSP Investments, before picking up vacant agricultural land 135 kilometres east of Darwin from the Northern Territory Land Corporation for $10.25 million.
In the NSW southern Riverina, between Albury and Culcairn, the 909-hectare cropping and grazing property Orange Grove is tipped to fetch a sum approaching $20 million.
Orange Grove has been run by Adrian Feueherdt and family since 2008, who have also created a wedding and events venue on the property with a commercial kitchen and bar, and which can hold up to 250 guests.
Around 95% is arable and divided into 40 main paddocks. It is currently utilised for oilseed, cereal and legume production in rotation, with around 480 hectares planted to winter crops in recent seasons. Part is established to permanent pasture for beef and sheep production.
Improvements include a four-bedroom homestead, separate renovated four-bedroom brick veneer managers residence, four self-contained cabins, in-ground swimming pool, plus shearing shed, machinery shed, haysheds and steel cattle yards.
Corcoran Parker has the listing.
