Dowra is being sold by the McIntosh family. Photo: Moree Real Estate
THIS week’s property review includes a wrap up of recently completed sales and interesting recent listings across the country.
- Southern Qld’s diverse Tabooba makes $14M+
- Quality soils in north-west NSW make $10.9M
- Passmores secure Condobolin’s Starsight for $11.5M
- Macintyre River irrigation asset listed for $31M
- EOI for historic Moree cropping country
- Southern Qld’s diverse Tabooba makes $14M+
The Rigney family has expanded with the neighbouring mixed farming and grazing operation Tabooba in southern Queensland.
The 5674ha holding is located at Talwood, 80km south-east of St George and 130km west of Goondiwindi, close to northern and southern grain and livestock markets.
Nutrien Harcourts Goondiwindi agent Andrew Jakins was unable to disclose the price, but Tabooba is understood to have made north of $14M.
The sale ends 26 years of single-family ownership by Geoff and Virginia Phillips who have been running a winter grain and forage-cropping operation, together with a cattle-backgrounding business.
The slightly undulating country is suitable for pasture production and grain growing, with around 1457ha sown to winter cereal and forage crops including wheat, barley, oats and chickpeas.
The grazing country is thoughtfully developed with good shade lines and livestock corridors and at the time of sale was presenting with an excellent stand of buffel and native grasses with seasonal herbages.
Tabooba has been bought by the Rigney family. Photo: Nutrien Harcourts Goondiwindi
Quality soils in north-west NSW make $10.9M
A local family seeking additional farming country with quality soils has paid $10.9M for Glencoe in the renowned Rowena cropping district of north-west New South Wales.
The 1722ha holding is located 23km south-west of Rowena and 44km north-west of Burren Junction.
Nutrien Harcourts Narrabri agent Paul Thomas described the auction as a good sale contested by six registered bidders on the day.
“That particular belt of country is tightly held and there haven’t been any sales for quite some time. It was a good way to gauge where the market is at, and it proved to be holding well.”
Rowena property Glencoe has sold locally. Photo: Nutrien Harcourts Narrabri
Glencoe forms part of an impressive farming plain alongside the Pian Creek Valley. It has rich grey and brown vertisol soils, with around 1041ha farmed in one main open field.
When Glencoe was listed for sale last month, it was coming off the back of a chickpea crop and was primed ready for a cereal crop this winter.
In addition to the cropping country, around 681ha comprises lightly timbered Mitchell grass grazing country which has traditionally run a cow and calf beef cattle operation.
The Sherwood cap and pipe bore water scheme supplies water to three tanks and four troughs. There are also several dams and a submersible electric bore.
Passmores secure Condobolin’s Starsight for $11.5m
Matthew and Jacinta Passmore and their son Gabriel have paid close to $11.5m for one of the finest mixed farming and grazing holdings south of Condobolin.
The 3019ha Starsight comprises two holdings: 2483ha Starsight and the 536ha Bogandillon. The aggregation is located 50km north of West Wyalong in the central west of NSW.
The Passmore family has bought Starsight at Condobolin. Photo: Miller and James
The Passmore family has bought Condobolin property Starsight. Photo: Miller and JamesIn recent years, the Tooth family has been concentrating on cattle and sheep production, with most paddocks used for pasture production and a small amount for growing cereals.
However, in the past, Starsight has been run as a mixed-farming operation.
Boasting mostly red loams through to red and grey self-mulching clays, the property is 95 percent arable and has achieved wheat yields of five tonnes or better.
Sold with a full soil-moisture profile, the settlement allows the Passmores to prepare paddocks for the 2023 cropping season.
Starsight is mostly flat with some gently undulating country and the picturesque Humbug Creek running along part of the boundary.
Water is delivered to the property from the Lachlan River via the Euglo Water Scheme. A good dam system provides an essential backup.
The 536ha Bogandillon block, which runs into the Bogandillon swamp, is currently mostly underwater however, in more normal seasons it provides an abundance of feed. It can also be used for summer cropping and during dry years, it has grown award-winning wheat crops on the swamp bed.
The sale of Starsight was handled by Angus McLaren from Miller & James.
Macintyre River irrigation asset listed for $31M
UK-based investor Mark Robinson has listed his quality irrigation, dryland farming and grazing asset in southern Queensland for $31m.
The 3145ha Booberoi is situated on the Macintyre River, 22km south of Toobeah and 72km south-west of Goondiwindi.
Featuring mostly undulating coolibah, myall and belah floodplain country, the property has soft self-mulching black to chocolate soils, broken by some higher box country.
Situated in a 600mm annual average rainfall area, Booberoi is well watered by 10km of Macintyre River frontage, dams and a lagoon.
Water is also secured by NSW and Qld allocations from the Macintyre River, in-stream water harvesting and a licensed overland flow.
A 5711ML certified on-farm water storage is adjacent to the Macintyre River.
Water harvesting opportunities are maximised by access to relatively low overland flow events and the pumping infrastructure.
Toobeah property Booberoi is for sale and includes dryland and irrigated cropping country. Photo: Elders
Around 1028ha of Booberoi have been developed to irrigation with 522ha planted to cotton and the balance of water ready for the next cotton crop.
The layout of the irrigation property lends itself to an intensive cropping program using a variety of crops that require less water and a shorter growing season.
In the past, small crops of onions and broccoli have proved a useful supplement to the cotton program.
In addition to the irrigation, there are 1005ha of grazing and support lands.
Around 955ha dryland cultivation country, boasting an excellent moisture profile, is suited to cash cropping or forage crops for backgrounding cattle.
Some of that country is also suitable for irrigation.
The sale of Booberoi is being handled by Henry Leonard and Mark Barber from Elders.
EOI for historic Moree cropping country
After 122 years, the McIntosh family is transiting out of cropping and selling its mixed farming operation in north-western NSW.
The 2461ha Dowra is located 37km west of Moree and 86km south-west of Narrabri, in a 575mm annual rainfall district.
Vendor Michael McIntosh, who is downsizing and moving closer to family, said there has been good interest from local farming families seeking expansion.
“This country is good value for money with the farming land likely to make $9600 to $9700 per hectare and around $3000/ha for the grazing country,” Mr McIntosh said.
The McIntosh family is selling Moree property Dowra. Photo: Moree Real Estate
Dowra is mostly level with heavy black self-mulching soils and gingham flood plains.
Around 1720ha are arable and grow wheat, barley, chickpeas, faba beans and sorghum, but the country is also suitable for cotton.
Mr McIntosh is in the process of planting the winter crop with 700ha of wheat and 200ha of faba beans already sown. If moisture allows, he will plant more wheat and chickpeas.
“In the run of very dry years, in particular from 2013 to 2019, the only year we didn’t harvest a crop was the extreme drought year of 2019.”
Eight silos have a total capacity of 2340 tonnes and there is a 550t bulk shed.
The balance of the country, around 741ha, is capable of running 2000 sheep and 400 cattle.
Dowra features steel yards for both sheep and cattle, an historic 150-year-old shearing shed renovated in 1987, a four-bedroom homestead, a two-bedroom cottage and a large shed.
The property is well watered by six bores with seven dams used as a back-up source to collect any overflow.
The sale of Dowra is being handled by Paul Kelly and Terry Adams from Moree Real Estate. It is being sold via expressions of interest closing on April 28.
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