THERE’S been some major cattle and sheep property transactions finalised recently in New South Wales and Western Australia, involving some of Australia’s largest livestock operators.

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

High points on Doughboy Mountain are almost 1500m above sea level

Langenhovens secure NSW’s Doughboy Mountain

The Langenhoven family, well known for its vast Northern Territory landholdings, has ventured into New South Wales property market for the first time.

Trading as Rallen Australia, the family has invested close to $30 million to secure premium, high rainfall grazing country in the prestigious Wongwibinda/Ebor region of northern New South Wales.

The 1891ha Doughboy Mountain, described as a red meat production factory, sits atop the Doughboy Mountain Range, 56km east of Guyra and 68km north-east of Armidale.

It is in excellent company among some of the best grazing country on the eastern fall. Gina Rinehart has country nearby, while the Roche Group owns Jeogla and Wallamumbi Stations.

Nutrien Boulton’s agent Bruce Rutherford was unable to disclose the buyer’s name or the price paid. However, when Doughboy Mountain returned to the market in October last year, it was offered with a $26m to $28m price guide on a bare basis.

The Langenhoven family has become one of the Northern Territory’s largest private landholders after spending $207m on 12,225sq km of grazing country over a six year period (see details below).

Doughboy Mountain

The breeding, backgrounding and finishing country can turn off 2500 backgrounders.

Purchased in 2015 by the well-known agribusiness family TA Field Estates, Doughboy Mountain has been running about 400 breeders plus heifer replacements, in addition to the annual drop of weaners from the company’s Congi Station, which are grown out to feeder weights.

During the marketing campaign, Mr Rutherford described Doughboy Mountain as one of the district’s finest properties.

He said altitude was a key feature, with much of the property rising from 1200m to 1495m above sea level.

“The cool temperate climate is ideal for pasture production. Around 80 percent of the undulating and hilly country has rich basalt soils growing a well-balanced mix of native and introduced grasses.”

Mr Rutherford said Doughboy Mountain was one of the first properties in New England to be top dressed, with cocksfoot, fescue and clovers responding well to the program which has been in place since the 1950s.

Located in a region with average annual rainfall of 900mm, Doughboy Mountain has received 1500mm of rain to date and is watered by a bore, four spring fed creeks and numerous spring-fed dams.

Infrastructure includes an architecturally designed four-bedroom home, a one-bedroom cottage, a four-stand shearing shed, sheep yards, steel cattle yards, numerous sheds and a 50-tonne fertiliser silo.

In recent years, most of the fencing has been replaced, including a significant area that has been exclusion fenced.

Background: Rallen Australia’s NT properties

• May 2018 – Rallen Australia made its first Australian property purchase, securing the 80,900ha McMinn Station for $7.5m including cattle and plant.
• February 2019 – the family purchased the neighbouring 70,700ha Big River Station for $5.5m bare.
• May 2019 – it acquired the 376,000ha Barkly Tableland breeding property Kalala Station for $58m on a walk-in walk-out basis, including 20,000 breeders and followers.
• February 2020 – the Langenhovens secured the extensive cattle stations Tanumbirini and Forrest Hill Stations, spanning 560,000ha, for $70m.
• January 2021 – it paid $17m walk-in walk-out, including 6000 head of Brahman cattle, for the 70,200ha Larrizona Station in the Sturt Plateau region, 160km south-west of Katherine.
• June 2024 – after a three-year hiatus, the Langenhoven family expanded its Top End cattle property portfolio, paying $49m bare for Woolner Station. The 64,700ha blue-ribbon backgrounding enterprise, with 18km of coastal frontage, is located 150km east of Darwin in the Mary River region.

Shippens secure highly regarded NSW sheep studs

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

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

Offered for sale by Australian Food & Agriculture, the Wanganella and Boonoke assets form 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 the vendor: AFA

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.