Trevino at Marvel Loch is for sale by expressions of interest. Photo: Ray White Rural WA

THE listing of Trevino at Marvel Loch is set to test the appetite for mixed-farming country in Western Australia’s eastern wheatbelt.

Covering 13,978 hectares, it has supported around 4500ha of cropping per annum, and a 9000-head merino flock, including 4000 commercial and Trevino Poll Merino stud ewes.

Trevino is believed to be the first large-scale offering to hit the market since 2019, when the aggregation put together by John and Julie Nicoletti sold to the Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), and Daybreak Cropping bought Bodallin Farms.

The SALIC purchase, now known as Merredin Farms, was made at around $300/ha, and covered numerous mixed farms in the Westonia and Yilgarn shires, which continue to run sheep and crop.

Daybreak’s Bodallin Farms purchase was made at an undisclosed price, and includes 12,570 arable hectares.

With an annual average rainfall of 345 millimetres, it is a cropping-only operation, and is located about 50km west of Trevino.

Both Bodallin Farms and Trevino are located in the Yilgarn Shire, with Trevino on the eastern fringe of WA’s central wheatbelt, where annual average rainfall is 275-300m.

Ray White Rural WA selling principal Hugh Ness, said this is enough to enable it achieve an average wheat yield of 1.5-2 tonnes per hectare.

“The wheat is nearly always Prime Hard at around the 13-16 per cent protein,” Mr Ness said.

Trevino’s vendor is Peter Panizza, who is looking to pursue other interests, and the bulk of the property — around 12,788ha — is pasture of clover and annual grasses.

“The property is being sold as land only; the plant, equipment and livestock will be sold when the farm sells, so if a buyer was interested in a walk-in walk-out transaction, then there is potentially that option.”

Mr Ness said Trevino had attracted solid inquiry so far from locals, corporates, investors, and carbon accumulators.

“The market across the state is very tight for listings, and I doubt much will change in the short-term.

“Farmers traditionally are very settled when seasons and prices are good.

“Also, there has been a large number of farmers leave the industry over the past 15-plus years. and their land has been generally absorbed into existing operations or large corporate farms.

“Increasingly, we are finding that even the large farms are being sold to one buyer.”

Stronger values

Elders WA senior rural real estate executive Simon Cheetham said values in WA’s eastern wheatbelt have certainly strengthened in the past 24 months.

“Carbon farming offers potential for additional upside in prices, but any growth to date has been driven mostly by local grower and corporate-farming demand rather than those purely focussing on carbon potential and sequestration. “

Trevino is mostly gently undulating heavy-to-medium loams, with the remaining 30 per cent being sandplain.

Among its greatest assets, and the reason why sheep are likely to stay in the mix, is its access to piped water through a public scheme.

Crops grown on Trevino include barley, canola, lupins, oats and wheat,

Improvements include five homes, 2500t of aerated vertical grain storage, a six-stand shearing shed and numerous sheds as well as staff quarters.

Expressions of interest on Trevino close September 8.

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