Wagyu cattle on feed at Smithfield

SETTLEMENT has been reached this afternoon for the sale of the Shearer Smith family’s large Smithfield feedlot located near Proston in Queensland’s South Burnett region.

New owners are prominent Queensland Wagyu cattle producers Peter & Jane Hughes and family, and specialist Warwick district Wagyu lotfeeder Chris Shaw. Rumours about the sale and the likely new owners have circulated for some time.

No price has been disclosed, but this afternoon’s deal was bare of stock. During the marketing phase Smithfield carried price expectations above $65 million, but this may not be reflective of the final agreed value.

Smithfield has a working capacity of 18,500 Standard Cattle Units, and is considered the second largest Australian feedlot inside the tick zone, after Central Queensland’s Goonoo. Historically it has fed a wide variety of classes of cattle (both custom fed and owned) from Central and North Queensland indicus crossbreds to longfed Wagyu.

Peter and Jane Hughes and family run one of Australia’s largest privately held Wagyu and Wagyu influenced beef herds run across properties from Central and North Queensland into the Northern Territory.

The sale represents major expansion for the Shaw/Hughes grainfed supply chain partnership, which three months ago bought the 9800SCU Pinegrove feedlot near Millmerran from Mort & Co. Chris Shaw already owned and operated the highly developed Canning Downs Wagyu feedlot near Warwick, featuring six permanent shed structures and capacity for 9400 head.

Beef Central estimates that collectively or individually, Messrs Shaw and Hughes now control feeding capacity of about 37,500 head. We have reached out to both for comment on future plans for Smithfield – any responses will be added here.

The Smithfield feedlot sits within a 2140ha grazing property with improved pastures comprising a mixture of Rhodes, Gatton panic and native pastures. Almost 100ha is irrigated under centre pivots for fodder production and grazing.

The yard includes 175 shaded feedlot pens built to a density of 16.5sq m per animal, and modern steamflake milling and processing infrastructure.

Water security is a key feature with entitlements exceeding the feedlot’s needs, including 640Ml of high priority water licences drawn from the Tarong pipeline scheme, plus an unsupplemented entitlement of 23Ml from the Stuart River.

Livestock water is sourced from the Tarong pipeline via three electric powered variable speed pumps, reticulated to two storage dams and feedlot pens, with irrigation water predominantly sourced from effluent sediment and runoff dams.

The milling complex consists of three 18×36” steam flaking roller mills with an associated tempering system and a new 3-megawatt Maxitherm gas fired boiler. Grain storage consists of seven silos with a combined capacity of 2090t and silage pits accommodating 15,500t. Shedding includes a commodity shed, old and new workshops, a vehicle shed, machinery shed and a hay shed.

The sale of Smithfield will see the Shearer Smith family consolidate its lotfeeding interests at its remaining Sapphire Feedlot site near Goondiwindi, which has considerable expansion potential.

The family provided Beef Central with the following comment:

“The sale of Smithfield Feedlot is an emotional time for our family, especially for our father, Robert ‘Rooster’ Smith who founded the feedlot with our late mother, Sandra back in 1986.  Over 40 years we have built something we are immensely proud of, but the achievement was never ours alone — it also belongs to the men and women who have shown up every day to help us care for the cattle. 

We are deeply grateful to have been the owners of the feedlot and thankful to the Smithfield Feedlot team for making it the operation it has become.

While one chapter may be closing, we are writing another at Sapphire Feedlot.  Since buying Sapphire as a 6000 head feedlot in 2016, we have expanded it to a licenced capacity of 28,750 SCU and are currently expanding it to 42,000 SCU.

“The sale of Smithfield will allow us to concentrate on the one feedlot and help us operate Sapphire as a tier-one Australian feedlot.

“Rooster and the Shearer-Smith families wish the Shaw and Hughes families every success as the new custodians of Smithfield.”

LAWD’s Danny Thomas took the Smithfield feedlot to market.

Rise in demand for quality feedlot assets

The asset was brought to market back in late November, as demand for quality Australian grainfed beef assets surged to unprecedented levels.

Smithfield Cattle Co chief executive Andrew Shearer-Smith said at the time the feedlot was listed that the recent activity in the feedlot sector and the current and forecast strength of the Australian cattle industry was the catalyst to offer the family-owned property and feedlot asset.

“The decision to sell a property that has been in our family since the 1950s, and a feedlot that our parents, started in 1986, was not made lightly,” he said.

“We are all proud of what our family and the Smithfield team have achieved in the continuous development and operation of Smithfield Feedlot since its inception.

“So, while one chapter of our history may close, we will still be very much committed to the lotfeeding industry through Sapphire,” he said.