THE sale of the Wanganella and Boonoke Merino studs and properties leads the major sheep property transactions being finalised in New South Wales and Western Australia.

• Shippens secure highly regarded NSW sheep studs
• WA’s Arubbidy Station under contract to CPC

Shippens secure highly regarded NSW sheep studs

The Wanganella and Boonoke Merino studs and properties are among the most highly regarded in Australia AND are now under contract to stud Merino breeders Ian and Camilla Shippen of Banyandah Pastoral.

The Shippens are one of Australia’s largest family-owned wool growers and run a self-replacing Merino sheep operation near Moulamein in the western Riverina of New South Wales.

The Wanganella and Boonoke assets were offered for sale by Australian Food & Agriculture. They formed part of the original FS Falkiner & Sons property aggregation and sit within AFA’s Deniliquin portfolio including Warriston, Peppinella, Zara and Barratta.

In recent years, the Shippens have significantly expanded their southern New South Wales holdings, which include Banyandah, Bundyulumblah, Blue Gate and Chah Singh.

• In 2022, the couple paid $16m for the 9921ha Rhyola and Inverness, a breeding and fattening aggregation in the southern Riverina. At the time, the result was described as the most significant achieved in Deniliquin and the surrounding district.
• In 2021, they secured around half of the 3353ha Woorndoo Aggregation near Lake Bolac, which sold for $70m.
• In 2018, they paid $37m for the 5946ha Mt Fyans near Dundonnell, one of the largest and most highly regarded grazing and cropping holdings in Victoria’s Western District.

About Australian Food & Agriculture

Australian Food & Agriculture was regarded as one of New South Wales’ most significant primary producers, with three livestock and cropping hubs across the Coonamble, Deniliquin and Hay districts.

The business was established by the late Colin Bell in 1993 with the acquisition of Burrabogie Station and is two-thirds owned by Bell Group Holdings Pty Limited, a private Australian company held by members of the Bell family and Alastair Provan.

After 30 years of investment, AFA, spanning 225,405ha across 13 properties, was listed for sale in 2023.

A year later, NASDAQ-listed, Cayman Islands-incorporated Agriculture & Natural Solutions Acquisition Corporation announced plans to acquire the portfolio for $780m.

Seven months later, the deal collapsed amid broader market instability and volatility in capital and debt markets.

Coonamble portfolio

Late last year, prominent Mungindi farmer and producer Malcolm Harris was identified as the buyer behind a sale that raised close to $200m for the 44,846ha Netherway and Wingadee on the Castlereagh River north of Coonamble. Netherway is fully developed to dryland cropping, while Wingadee is a grazing and cropping property.

Hay portfolio

Meanwhile, AFA’s Hay portfolio remains on the market.

Spanning 57,624ha, it comprises Burrabogie, Mulberrygong, Kolora and Wahwoon, located on the Murrumbidgee River east of Hay.

Alongside extensive grazing operations, the properties support a substantial irrigated cropping program, including rice, cotton and winter cereals, across 11,000ha. This is supported by 54,693ML of water entitlements from the Murrumbidgee and Murray River systems, as well as bore water.

WA’s Arubbidy Station under contract to CPC

Arubiddy Station on Western Australia’s Nullarbor Plain is understood to be under contract to Consolidated Pastoral Co, creating the world’s largest contiguous sheep operation.

The 314,494ha exclusion-fenced Arubiddy property, pictured above, is located on the Eyre Highway, 30km north of the Cocklebiddy Roadhouse, 300km from the South Australian border and 620km from Esperance and Kalgoorlie.

Elders agent Greg Smith was unable to disclose the price paid or confirm the buyer. However, the walk-in walk-out sale included around 15,000 Merino sheep, with final numbers to be determined.

The pastoral lease sits between CPC’s existing 1.011sq km Rawlinna to the west and the 711,638ha Madura Plain Station to the east, both purchased last year for a reported $20 million-plus and $35 million respectively.

As flagged in this earlier Beef Central article, it made strategic sense for CPC to pursue Arubiddy given the operational scale and efficiencies it could achieve across the three adjoining stations.

CPC now owns more than two million hectares of contiguous grazing country, making it one of Australia’s largest landholders.

Crown Point Pastoral, owned by Viv Oldfield and Donny Costello, controls Australia’s largest agricultural land portfolio, spanning more than nine million hectares. Gina Rinehart, through Hancock Agriculture and S. Kidman & Co, manages more than 3.5 million hectares across Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria.

Arubiddy Station was offered for sale after 12 years of ownership by Matthew and Claire Lewis of Lewis Hotels, one of Sydney’s leading hospitality groups.

The couple bought the station from the Brown family, who took over management in the early 1970s and operated it for more than five decades. Under their stewardship, the station developed a reputation for high-quality wool.

Madura Plain and Rawlinna Stations

In January, CPC announced it had purchased Madura Plain Station on a going-concern, walk-in walk-out basis, including the sheep flock and goat herd. While no price guide was disclosed, it is understood to have transacted for around $30 million.

Madura Plain lies to the east of Rawlinna, Western Australia’s largest sheep station, which CPC bought last year.

At 10,117sq km, Rawlinna is regarded as Australia’s largest sheep property. It has recently been running around 60,000 Merinos and has a working capacity of about 80,000 head.

Arubiddy Station

Arubiddy Station features expansive open plains of bluebush and saltbush, as well as other herbages.

During the marketing campaign, Elders agent Greg Smith said the Nullarbor Plain was tightly held.

“It is terrific country. Landholders have always made money because it is productive and always has feed – from fence to fence – which means stock numbers don’t fluctuate greatly.”

Mr Smith said sheep numbers on Arubiddy remain reasonably consistent.

“Rated to run 24,000DSE, it shears up to 26,000 and seldom drops below 15,000 head. The sheep are well bred and have consistently produced top-quality wool, with the Arubiddy clip awarded supreme clip of the sale six times.”

Mr Smith said Arubiddy presents an opportunity to run a large number of sheep in an easy-care environment with low input costs, while water on the northern half of the property is suitable for cattle.

“The nature of the terrain on the Nullarbor makes mustering relatively easy, and the lack of permanent surface water makes vermin control easier.”

Arubiddy is serviced by 23 bores, 13 of them equipped, with Farmbot monitoring on all key water points and a 3000-litre per hour, or 50,000-litre per day, desalination plant, supported by 250mm of annual rainfall.

Over the past 10 years, water storage capacity has increased by 55pc, with 70pc of tanks replaced or upgraded in the past two years.

Infrastructure includes three homes, 10 sheep yards, a six-stand shearing shed, shearers’ quarters, and numerous sheds and outbuildings.