Ballandry Station is for sale by expressions of interest through Ray White Rural International.

THE BALLANDRY Station dryland and irrigated farming aggregation is up for sale by expression of interest to offer a sizeable foothold in the Riverina region north of Griffith in southwest New South Wales.

Owned by one of inland Australia’s large-scale poultry pioneers, David Bartter, the holding covers 27,735 hectares.

Ray White Rural International agent, Bruce Gunning, said the property’s dryland farming soils had reaped the benefit.

“Chicken litter has been incorporated into the cropping country, which outyields everything else in the area because of its improved soil structure and great ability to retain moisture,” Mr Gunning said.

“With conventional fertiliser applied too, it’s averaged wheat yields of more than two tonnes per hectare in the past few years from a 401-millimetre annual average rainfall.”

Ballandry includes an 8299ha irrigation block north of Griffith, and two separate dryland cropping blocks south of the Mid Western Highway between Goolgowi and Rankins Springs totaling 19,436ha.

The property is being offered as a whole, or in its two separate irrigation and dryland components.

“This country can grow irrigated rice, but almonds, walnuts and cotton would be the most attractive crops to grow based on current returns,” Mr Gunning said.

“Cotton in this area has yielded up to 14 bales per hectare, so there’s certainly potential for the crop through irrigation on Ballandry.”

The irrigation block comes with a 527-metre frontage to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area’s Northern Branch Canal and its annual delivery entitlement of 45,455 megalitres.

The dryland block is an aggregation of 17 properties put together over the years, and is mostly level red loam cropping country with some undulation.

Ballandry features a total of 30,000 tonnes of grain storage, including 20,000 tonnes all up in four near-new bulk grain sheds, all with heavy-duty concrete floors.

Remaining storage comes from silos located over the properties, and silos and sheds offers opportunities to sell grain for deferred delivery to the region’s expanding poultry industry and other end users.

The property is also a handy distance to two cotton gins, and has areas of developed pasture.

Based on recent property sales, Ballandry is expected to fetch an average price per hectare over its irrigated and dryland country of at least $2900.

Expressions of interest close 31 July, 2018.

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