SHOWCASE large-scale Queensland Channel Country grazing property Nappa Merrie is changing hands, in a deal understood to be worth close to $70 million.
One of the state’s largest grazing holdings, Nappa Merrie covers 727,700ha across three freehold titles on the Cooper Creek and Wilson River systems, stretching north and south along the South Australian border, about 300km west of Thargomindah.
Substantial areas are flood-out country supporting nutritious native sorghums and other species after beneficial flooding, producing what’s often been described in the past as a ‘green feedlot.’
Vendors, the Coulton family’s Marella Agriculture, put Nappa Merrie on the market in November under an expressions of interest campaign managed through LAWD’s Danny Thomas and Elizabeth Doyle.
New owners will be Antony Glynn, principal of Glynn Agriculture and Ottley Capital, Moree and prominent NSW beef processor Edward Throsby, EC Throsby, Singleton. It’s understood that Throsbys already owns nearby smaller grazing assets, including Nooyeah Downs, closer to Thargomindah.
Rumours have circulated around the industry about a sale for some weeks. Vendor David Coulton confirmed the deal to Beef Central this morning, but chose not to provide further details. Settlement is due to take place around the end of July.
The sale is understood to include only a small number of cattle.
Nappa Merrie is located in a dress-circle Channel Country grazing area, with Arrabury and Durham Downs located to the north and northeast, and Naryilco to the southeast.
Boasting a sea of feed this year after an exceptional wet season, the property has an estimated carrying capacity of 14,000 adult equivalents. The Coulton family has used the country primarily for backgrounding and growing-out young cattle from its Angus, Wagyu F1 and flatback breeding herds.
Nappa Merrie is steeped in grazing industry history, having been operated for decades under Stanbroke Pastoral Co (version one) direction as a vast grassfed Santa Gertrudis bullock finishing depot.
Flood-out country along Cooper Creek
Rise in asset value
The Coulton family has owned and operated Nappa Merrie for the past ten years, having paid gas miner Santos about $16 million bare for the asset in 2016.
“It is an amazing place, by any standards, and it will be a sad day for us when the transaction completes,” Mr Coulton said. “There will never be another opportunity to buy into that unique country so well,” he said.
“We’ve been fortunate to have had a run of good seasons since we’ve owned it, but even when its bad out there (beneficial flooding wise) its still pretty good. The Channels are always good after a flow, but this year the outside country is exceptional.”
“The beauty of that country is that you have time. Further east, when a drought sets in you can be in trouble in a month or two. In the Channels, you have six or seven months to work with.”
At the time the asset was listed, Mr Coulton said the decision to sell was a reluctant one, but was made to allow his family to focus on upgrading its large irrigated farming assets in the Goondiwindi district. The Coultons will continue to run around 10,000 head on their remaining properties further east in southern Queensland and near Ebor on the New England.
Significant investment in infrastructure has been made by the Coultons to support efficient livestock production, including water security and fencing. The property includes 21 bores and 22 dams, and 25 permanent and semi-permanent waterholes located along the frontages to the Cooper Creek and Wilson River channel systems.
Across the holding, land types range form open downs and ranges through to extensive flood-out and alluvial systems.
Infrastructure includes eight main sets of livestock yards, accommodation including the historic homestead, which has been renovated by the Coultons, and a range of other dwellings including head stockman’s dwelling, stockmen’s quarters, guest quarters, three workers’ quarters, a kitchen, recreation facilities and an ablution donga. Nearby are a workshop, generator shed, machinery shed, vehicle shed and storage shed.
The field of interest shown in Nappa Merrie was described earlier by agent Danny Thomas as ‘pretty deep and diverse’ – not surprising given how tightly-held large scaled Channel Country holdings are.
“While we would expect typical buyers such as institutional investors or established families seeking expansion opportunities, we believe Nappa Merrie will also appeal to high-net-worth individuals looking for a property that is both unique in location and rich in history,” Mr Thomas said at the time it came to market.
- Beef Central reached out to Edward Throsby and Antony Glynn for comment, but neither had responded by the time this item was published. Agent Danny Thomas said he could not provide comment.
Colourful history
It was on lands around Nappa Merrie that ill-fated explorers, Burke and Wills, died on their famous expedition in which they became the first Europeans to cross Australia from south to north, seeking new grazing lands, a route for an overland telegraph line and for scientific discovery.
The famous ‘Burke and Wills Dig Tree’, which marked instructions to the explorers’ buried provisions, is one of Australia’s national icons and is located on the banks of Cooper Creek at Nappa Merrie.
Attracted to stories of the permanent water holes discovered during the Burke and Wills expedition, John Conrick saw the opportunity for pastoral grazing and walked 1600 cattle from Koroit in Victoria to Cooper Creek in the early 1870s.
Under an initial ‘occupation licence’ of 65 square miles, which he named Nappa Merrie after the local Indigenous language (Ngappa meaning ‘water’ and Merri meaning ‘sandhill’) Conrick took up permanent residence, later partnering in business with George Ware.
Their empire grew in 1891, with the transfer of 1200sq km St Ann’s and its sheep, starting a successful wool growing operation which ran for the next 40 years, and commanded the second highest price at Brisbane’s wool sales in 1898.
Nappa Merrie continued to expand despite setbacks with drought, with nearby Chastleton joined to the holding in 1908, and later the Lake Pure lease was added.
John Conrick’s four sons continued to develop Nappa Merrie until 1954, when it was sold to the Playford River Pastoral Co. It was later owned by AMP-owned Stanbroke Pastoral Co, Santos, and sub-leased to Kidman & Co and then the Coulton family’s Morella Agriculture for a number of years prior to their purchase in 2016.
Could this be a depot strategy for a southern processor to accumulate Queensland-bought cattle before sending them south for processing?
We asked a similar question, David. Apparently not. Editor