Scott and Katie Lloyd as their Weiambilla feedlot. Source: NAB
THE purchase of a substantial feedlot asset between Chinchilla and Condamine on Queensland’s western Darling Downs has added momentum in a new direction being taken by prominent northern Australian cattleman, Sterling Buntine.
Over 30 years Mr Buntine’s Baldy Bay Pty Ltd built an extensive northern cattle business based mostly on Brahman cattle and live export, but over time the portfolio has morphed into softer cattle and a focus on large scale domestic grainfed production.
Completed last week, Mr Buntine’s purchase of Scott and Katie Lloyd and family’s Wieambilla feedlot near Chinchilla extends his operation’s footprint in the supply of higher quality grainfed beef.
The Lloyd family chose not to contribute to this report, but Beef Central understands the Wieambilla feedlot and surrounding 3500ha grazing property were sold for about $52 million. Settlement happened last week. It is understood the deal did not include livestock on feed.
A sale price at that level places the beast-area value (given the yard’s operating capacity of around 10,000 head and 10,980 SCU license) at somewhere approaching $4000/head – at the upper limit of prices paid for any conventional feedlot in Australia’s history.
The lack of turnover of feedlot assets in Australia has made it notoriously difficult to value feedyards, as described in this earlier story.
Herd redirection
In recent years, a large portion of Mr Buntine’s cattle turnoff was backgrounded on his showcase large scale Central Queensland buffel grass holdings, Comely and Mapala, before being sold as feeders to Morgan Pastoral Co’s Whaka and Kurrawong feedlots near Quinalow, which in combination feed around 40,000 head at one time.
Sterling Buntine
Morgan Pastoral Co feeds 100-day cattle almost exclusively, holding a long-term supply contracts with specialist grainfed beef processor, Kilcoy Global Foods.
Consolidated Pastoral Co sold Comely and Mapala, totalling 23,000ha of highly improved brigalow country near Moura, to Mr Buntine for about $50 million back in 2019. That sale followed a deal done a month or two earlier between CPC and Baldy Bay for 80,000ha Mimong Station near Kynuna for about $20 million. Both were in tick-free country.
Other large NT holdings including Springvale and Tanumbirini held by Baldy Bay were sold earlier.
New herd composition, production focus
The Comely and Mapala purchases in better country further southeast represented the start of a re-focus on domestic grainfed beef production for Baldy Bay. The northern breeding herds based on Alroy Downs (4232ha south of Brunette Downs on the NT’s Barkly Tableland), and Bedford Downs, Lissadel and Landsdowne in the Kimberley that once ran straight Grey Brahman cattle have been softened with Santa and Droughtmaster genetics.
One contact suggested some of the terminal progeny now carried 50-60pc Indicus content, considered by some to be more ‘favourable’ for lotfeeding. The business has never showed any interest in Angus or Wagyu-type genetics.
“The backgrounding performance on Comely and Mapala showed him the more early weight you can get into your cattle the better you do,” the contact said. “There’s a big difference between selling a 330kg boat steer into Darwin live export, versus a 460kg feeder steer into a downs feedlot. He got the hang of that very quickly,” he said.
The contact said most of the Baldy Bay turnoff in recent times had been sold as feeders, off the CQ backgrounding country.
Asked whether the purchase of Wieambilla feedlot arose from a ‘sense of frustration’ in the current very tight access to custom feeding space in Australian feedlots , he said this was not a real consideration, as Baldy Bay was previously content to sell young cattle as feeders, rather than seeking retained ownership in the feedyard.
“But the Wieambilla purchase certainly breaks new ground for Mr Buntine’s beef business,” he said.
The Wieambilla feedot asset was not publicly listed before sale, but Beef Central understands it was on the market discretely for a year or more beforehand. Another southern downs feedlot that came into the sights of Baldy Bay was the Moruya feedlot near Goondiwindi, marketed around this time last year.
Marketing agent for the Wieambilla sale was Scott Kostecki from the Leichardt Group in Roma, but under instruction of the buyer and vendor, he was unable to provide any further detail. Leichardt Group also recently sold the Valera Vale asset near Augathella to the NT’s Brett family.
The Wieambilla yard has a reputation for being very well developed and equipped for its size, while not yet set-up for steamflake grain processing, Beef Central was told. There is evidently some scope for feedlot expansion.
“It’s immaculate – it has everything you could ask for in a yard of its size, including bitumen road access,” a local source familiar with the yard said. “The development is a credit to the Lloyd family.”
Annual turnoff through a yard like Wieambilla is around 30,000-35,000, depending on which program is applied, of which Baldy Bay could conceivably supply around 25,000 head itself from its breeding and backgrounding resources focussed on softer types, Beef Central was told.
In July this year, Mr Buntine sold a smaller breeding, backgrounding and finishing aggregation in central western Queensland for around $20 million. Agents JLL Agribusiness and RPL were appointed to sell the 74,660ha Tulmur, Tranby and Owens Creek aggregation southwest of Winton via an expressions of interest process. It’s understood the 54,300ha Tulmur and 14,140ha Tranby sold to one local producer and the 6220ha Owens Creek to another.
Beef Central profiled the Wieambilla feedlot in this earlier story, after the Lloyds were crowned Woolworths Beef Suppliers of the Year in 2013.
The Lloyd family held a Woolworths grainfed supply contract for 35 years, but the new owners have evidently already stepped out of supermarket supply, in favour of 100-day programs.
Like many yards, the Lloyd family’s Wieambilla feedlot had humble beginnings, being established by Scott’s parents John and Anne Lloyd in the late 1970s to feed their stud Santa Gertrudis bulls and finish a few steers.