Tarqua near Ararat in Vic in on the market with a price guide of $14,826/ha. Photo: LAWD

ATTRACTING interest are Tolcairn on the Limestone Coast and an aggregation in the Tintinara district in South Australia, and Tarqua in western Victoria.

Tolcairn, SA

A 3259ha mixed farm on South Australia’s Limestone Coast is attracting strong interest from corporate buyers and farming families.

Tolcairn is near Sherwood, 30km east of Keith and 35km north-west of Bordertown.

Brothers Rodney, Brian and Paul Bartlett are selling the property ahead of retirement, having held it since 1980.

It is described as one of the Upper South East’s best cropping and grazing holdings.

The mostly flat to gently undulating country has grey sandy loam over clay.

Apart from some shelter belts, the land has been delved or clayed.

The cropping area spans 1346ha, comprising wheat (412ha), barley (527ha), canola (324ha), beans (96ha) and lupins (86ha).

The balance is sown to lucerne-based pastures supporting 3500 self-replacing breeding ewes, 1100 ewe lambs and 1130 wether lambs grown out to heavy weights.

The property is also equipped to run cattle.

Elders agent Mike Lind said Tolcairn as an efficient, well-developed turnkey operation.

“A major refencing program has been undertaken over the last 10 years, offering a wide laneway system for ease of machinery and livestock movement,” Mr Lind said.

“Rarely does a holding of this scale, quality and versatility become available in the Sherwood area with excellent management in place.”

Mr Lind said the Bartlett family has taken a progressive and innovative approach to cropping.

“They were one of the first farming operations to use claying and delving which improves the moisture and temperature holding characteristics of the soil.”

“That in turn has reduced the susceptibility to frosts and increased cropping yields and allows them to run high stocking rates on clover and lucerne based pastures.”

Proximity to the Victorian border also creates strong competition among grain and livestock buyers, often delivering a premium, Mr Lind said.

Tolcairn averages 430mm of annual rainfall and has two bores and a 205ML water licence.

Infrastructure includes four homes, a six-stand shearing shed, undercover sheep yards, steel cattle yards, numerous sheds and 10 silos.

Tolcairn is offered as a whole or in two non-contingent lots – 2800ha with all structural improvements and 459ha with a set of sheep yards.

Expressions of interest close on November 20.

Tarqua, Vic

Tarqua, a mixed-farming property in western Victoria, is on the market after 140 years of single family ownership.

Settled in 1886, the 1073ha holding is near Ballyrogan, 15km south-west of Ararat and 25km west of Beaufort.

Tarqua is being offered with a price guide of $14,826/ha and is attracting interest from locals and farmers in the Western District seeking expansion.

The mostly gently undulating country has productive red-brown and clay loam soils.

Around 987ha, or 92pc of the property, is arable, supporting intensive winter dryland cropping of canola, wheat, barley, oats and faba beans alongside beef and sheep enterprises.

Tarqua typically carries 4000 ewes and lambs and 550 head of cattle, with an autumn lambing operation complemented by a spring calving cattle breeding program.

The Grampians Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Scheme, a bore and multiple dams supply water, supported by reliable rainfall of 600mm.

Infrastructure includes a four-bedroom home, a four-stand shearing shed, sheep and cattle yards, sheds and 647 tonnes of silo storage.

LAWD agents Danny Thomas and Patrick Kerr are handling the sale through expressions of interest closing on November 19.

Heathwell and Yulong, SA

A mixed-farming aggregation in SA’s Murray and Mallee region has been relisted as two separate properties after it failed to sell through an expressions of interest campaign.

The 812ha Heathwell and 764ha Yulong are adjoining Tintinara district holdings assembled over the past decade by the Germein family.

Heathwell is now listed at $5.5 million, while Yulong is priced at $4 million.

The sale will allow the family to consolidate its assets closer to its home base on Yorke Peninsula.

Spence Dix & Co agents Ryan Llewellyn and Dom De Leo said the properties are well positioned in a 445mm rainfall district, providing a strong base for a mixed farming enterprise.

“Heathwell and Yulong offer multiple income streams, including livestock, lucerne seed, cropping and hay production,” they said.

“Both properties are suited to sheep and cattle and can operate as self-sufficient enterprises, producing grain and hay to support livestock.

“They are also backed by good infrastructure.”

Across the combined 1577ha, this year’s cropping program included 927ha of lucerne and 198ha of barley.

The properties are currently destocked and will be offered with substantial spring feed.

Each holding has separate road access, improvements, water systems and a residence, allowing buyers to acquire the full aggregation or either farm individually.

Water is supplied by three bores.

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