This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
LARGE-scale irrigated and dryland cropping property Boongargil, in the productive Border Rivers region of Queensland, has hit the market.
The 4,256-hectare holding, located 60 kilometres west of Goondiwindi, is positioned on the northern side of the Macintyre River and produces cotton, wheat and sorghum in rotation.
Boongargil is leased to an experienced operator until June 2026.
More than one-third of the property, totalling 1,586 hectares, is extensively developed to irrigation, including 258 hectares of centre pivot and 1,328 hectares of flood irrigation, complemented by 1,814 hectares of dryland cropping, with the balance grazing and support land.
Listings agents LAWD told Australian Property Journal they are quoting greater than $35 million for Boongargil, and the expected buyer pool will be corporate and institutional farming groups, as well as large-scale operators seeking expansion opportunities.
Simon Cudmore of LAWD described Boongargil as the “ultimate cropping package”.
“The property’s location is second to none – the Border Rivers region is renowned for its assured water and quality soils,” Cudmore said, adding that the property is a short drive from cotton gins at Goondiwindi, Mungindi and Moree, and grain receival sites at Bungunya, North Talwood, Toobeah and Goondiwindi.
Substantial water allocations are supported by on-farm storage and supply channel systems, which deliver water to 13 flood irrigation fields and three centre pivot irrigators.
Boongargil has a reliable annual rainfall of 505 millimetres and is in a good climate.
Boongargil has Coolibah floodplains with portions of Poplar Box and Brigalow Belah, and soils include a mix of self-mulching black/grey cracking clays with areas of red soils, suited to both summer and winter cropping.
Average cotton yields for the region are 12.5 to 13.5 bales per hectare, and cereal crop yields at two to three tonnes per hectare.
Residences on the property include a main four-bedroom homestead and two additional houses, and seasonal worker accommodation is provided by three ACTO units.
Further infrastructure includes two machinery sheds, a storage shed, an 800 tonne grain shed, and eight silos with a combined capacity of 600 tonnes.
In recent weeks, Proterra Investment Partners’ One Tree broadacre cropping portfolio was put up for sale with US private equity firm hoping for around $250 million from a strengthening institutional market that is acclimatising to higher interest rate levels. LAWD also has that listing.
ASX-listed Duxton Farms offloaded its large-scale dryland cropping property Timberscombe, in the South West Slopes region of NSW, for $70 million in April to Altora Ag, the cropping arm of Canadian pension fund PSP Investments.
