In November, Duxton listed most of its Kentucky aggregation at Wirrinya, south-west of Forbes. Photo: LAWD

ALKIRA Farms, an investment arm of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has purchased most of the 6020ha Kentucky Aggregation in the Central West of New South Wales from Duxton Farms.

This acquisition comes weeks after its acquisition of the 5694ha North Star Aggregation in NSW’s Golden Triangle region from Proterra Investment Partners was confirmed.

In a statement, the ASX-listed mixed-farming manager said the aggregation was sold “on a vacant possession basis” for $38 million.

Duxton listed most of the Kentucky Aggregation for sale in November last year to continue its move to diversify its operations.

The company had opted to retain the 418ha Roselyn holding, which had been part of the aggregation.

It had enlisted LAWD as the agent for the sale, aiming to secure more than $45M.

The transaction also includes stock and domestic water entitlements totalling 48 megalitres.

“The contract for sale has been successfully executed and settlement is due to occur in the next two weeks,” Duxton Farms said in a statement.

“The board believes this is a significant result for shareholders and demonstrates another step by the Company to pursue its stated investment strategy.”

Duxton Farms chairman Ed Peter said the sale aligns with the company’s strategic objective to redeploy capital into diversification opportunities elsewhere and refine the activities of the team in NSW.

“The sale of Kentucky is a major milestone for Duxton Farms as the Board continues to execute on its strategy of reorienting the focus of the Company’s investment strategy away from dryland cropping and towards a diversified mix of new development opportunities in Australian agriculture to build significant value by elevating and stabilising the Company’s earnings profile in the long-term,” Mr Peter said in a statement.

Duxton took the first step in downsizing its NSW cropping operations by selling its Timberscombe property to Altora Ag for $70M.

The aggregation was one of the largest contiguous cropping holdings in the southern half of the state, covering over 8432ha.

Alkira Farms expansion

Alkira Farms has quickly become a significant agricultural investment presence in eastern Australia, and is a subsidiary of the global agricultural investment Farmland Reserve company.

Prior to its recent purchase of the North Star Aggregation, Alkira Farms in August last year paid more than $350M for southern Queensland’s 26,855ha Worral Creek Aggregation.

The Worral Creek Aggregation included 65,900ML of water entitlements to make it one of Australia’s largest privately owned irrigation and dryland-farming enterprises.