WITH the outlook for Australian beef about as good as it has ever been heading into 2026, rural services business Elders has elected to test the market by offering its large, modern Killara Feedlot business for sale.

With a current working capacity around 22,500 head, the Killara yard is located near Quirindi on the NSW Liverpool Plain, with good access to high quality feeder cattle, grain, roughages and water. Cattle on feed or being backgrounded will be included in the sale.

Elders managing director and chief executive Mark Allison was unavailable for comment, but the company confirmed the sale process to Beef Central via a brief statement.

“Elders will consider divestment (of Killara feedlot) if a suitable buyer is identified and the transaction aligns with our value creation strategy,” the statement said.

Killara had long been a successful and valuable part of the Elders Products and Services portfolio, it said.

“In the last ten years, Elders has invested significantly (in the site), driving strong productivity and growth. With Elders driving balance between retail, wholesale, agency and financial services operations, we feel for Killara to continue to grow and develop as a blue chip operation,  it would be more appropriate for it to move to a more natural owner aligned to its future growth ambitions.”

“With the right buyer, Killara is well positioned to unlock further growth and long-term success,” the statement said.

Elders has engaged Melbourne corporate advisory firm Kidder Williams to conduct a global search for potential buyers.

Beef Central approached Kidder Williams for more detail, but apparently a sale prospectus is still being prepared, and the company was unable to provide further comment.

In the meantime, here’s what we know about the Killara business.

Killara feedlot general manager Andrew Talbot

Killara ranked Number 17 in Beef Central’s 2023 Top 25 Australian Lotfeeders list, with annual turnoff around 65,000 head.

The confirmation that Elders will offer Killara for sale continues an extraordinary period of significant feedlot sales and marketings this year – including the recent sale of Rangers Valley and the offering of Mort & Co’s Pinegrove and Yarranbrook feedlots in southern Queensland.

In fact the recent cycle is unprecedented in Australian feedlot history. In the past, years have gone by with no major feedlot sales whatsoever, being one of the most tightly held asset classes in the entire beef industry.

Clearly, feedlot owners with a mood to shift assets see the current 2025-26 trading environment and market outlook as being the ideal time to test the market.

Along with a host of other feedlots identified in Beef Central’s Feedlot Expansion series this week, Killara undertook a small expansion in 2024, growing from 20,000 to 22,500 head.

The yard feeds a range of types, from a Woolworths domestic grainfed supply contract to midfed Angus fed around 150 days. New milling infrastructure was installed some years ago.

Over time, it appears that the purpose of having the Killara feedlot within the broader Elders business has changed.

Originally, it played an important integration role (described by a former staffmember as a demand mechanism to help the branch network generate sales) within the livestock division for clients’ cattle, that is perhaps less relevant today.

While a lot of feeder cattle continue to flow through the Elders network, the yard these days is operated on straight commercial lines, Beef Central was told.

Elders at one point ran its own meat trading division, exporting beef fed at Killara into Japan, Korea and elsewhere under brand programs like Grange (later renamed Grainge, after disputation with wine producer Penfolds over the name).

Around 95pc of the cattle currently on feed are company owned, with the remainder custom-fed. Years ago, larger amounts of pen space were dedicated to custom-feeding.

Beyond the feedlot infrastructure itself, Killara sits within 1050ha of prime farming and irrigation country, producing most of the yard’s roughage and hay requirements, including corn silage.

There is also a large grass-finishing operation conducted on the site, supplying around 260 head each week of Certified Grassfed beef into programs for major supermarkets and export processors, with capacity to turn off around 10,000 finished steers and heifers each year. Total country either owned or leased amounts to about 1300ha, including 300ha of irrigation.

The Killara business has successfully cultivated close working relationships with backgrounders across the region who have built trading businesses geared towards buying quality weaners and supplying feeder cattle into the yard, backed by quality carcase feedback.

One of Killara’s biggest sustainability initiatives is the plan to become carbon-neutral by 2030. A 500-kilowatt solar farm has been constructed, which contributes to energy consumption.

Positive outlook for industry

In the company’s recent half-year financial report, Elders chief executive Mark Allison said notwithstanding  some challenges, he was overwhelmingly positive about the state of the agriculture industry and the outlook for 2026.

He said international demand for protein remains historically high and global indicators for trade were positive.

“Globally, Australian agricultural products remain in high demand, with little negative fallout expected from recent trade and tariff announcements,” Elders’ half-year result said.

The report noted that Killara feedlot had exited 58,000 cattle over the year ended 30 June, with gross margin at $17.2 million and working capital of $51.9 million. A graph displaying gross margin sensitivity suggested Killara’s sensitivity was +/- 10pc, easily the lowest among the nine Elders division plotted.

On Tuesday this week, Elders completed its acquisition of Delta Agribusiness, paying $292 million to Delta shareholders.

Feedlot history

Killara was one of the first yards constructed in the Liverpool Plains region, starting operations in 1971 under a joint venture between local grazier Bill McInnes and Japanese meat trading house, Mitsubishi.

In 1885 Mitsubishi bought-out the Australian shareholders, applying for an expansion to 20,000 head in 1986. Steamflaking arrived in 1993, and in 1998 Mitsubishi sold Killara to a joint venture involving Elders, Taiwan Sugar and Taiwan Pineapple. Elders in 2011 bought out the other two partners, and later also owned the Charlton feedlot in Victoria, now owned by Teys Australia.

• We’re planning to follow-up with an interview next week with feedlot general manager Andrew Talbot looking into the Killara sale in more detail, and exploring the topic: Are Australian feedlot assets finally receiving financial acknowledgement for being the vital assets they are?

Beef Central’s feedlot expansion series running this week:

Three cattle families purchase Qld’s Moruya feedlot

Feedlot capacity continues to surge, driven by grainfed branded beef demand

Recent feedlot expansion projects happening across Qld, NSW, SA

Demand to expand feedlots colliding with water availability