TWO South Australian pastoral stations sold recently have been bought by SA producers.

A long-standing family owner in the region has secured Lake Torrens Station in South Australia’s renowned Flinders Ranges.

Elders agent Adam Chilcott handled the sale and was unable to disclose the buyer or the price paid, but said it met vendor expectations and would complement the new owner’s existing operations.

When Lake Torrens Station was offered to the market in June by John and Julie Rowe after 40 years of ownership, it was listed for $5.4m.

Mr Chilcott reported genuine interest from New South Wales and Western Australia producers seeking better value for money country, exceptional water and geographic diversity.

The 43,300ha Lake Torrens Station is located 57km north-west of Hawker and 162km from Port Augusta.

The station was established in 1854 and named in honour of South Australia’s Sir Robert Richard Torrens who introduced the Torrens Land Titles system in 1858.

Lake Torrens is currently run as a cattle breeding enterprise, but has the potential and capacity to revert back to a sheep operation. It is rated to run 1360 cattle or 6800 sheep equivalents.

The EU-accredited property is well improved and managed, and conservatively running 342 cows and calves on blue bush, salt bush, native grasses and herbages.

The property is well-watered by eight bores and a dam, and there is potential for further water development.

Infrastructure includes a four-bedroom home, a cottage, quarters, a five-stand shearing shed, sheep yards, four steel cattle yards and various sheds.

Motpena Station

After widespread interest and a number of solid offers, a South Australian producer has secured Motpena Station.

The 55,400ha stretch from the shores of Lake Torrens to the foothills of the Flinders Ranges and are located near Parachilna, 103km from Hawker and 208km from Port Augusta.

Motpena has been owned by the Fels family for 30 years. They have been running a self-replacing shorthorn cattle herd. The station has been conservatively stocked over recent years, but is rated run 1300 head of cattle. Sheep were last run there in the 1960s.

The Fels have carried out extensive native revegetation on barren claypan flats with water diversion projects.

The station features substantial floodplain areas fed by the Parachilna and Cottage Creeks. The Commodore Swamp system covers around a third of the property’s southern section.

The property has an abundant underground water supply sourced from 15 equipped bores and five main water meters. An opportunity exists for the incoming purchaser to further expand the watering points and spread the grazing pressure in dry times.

Improvements include a six-bedroom home, numerous sheds, four cattle yards and an old shearers' quarters providing possible extra accommodation and tourism income.

Nutrien Harcourts agent Brian Barnett handled the sale of Motpena on a walk-in walk-out basis but was unable to disclose the buyer or the price paid.