OUTSTANDING location combined with a self-sufficient beef backgrounding platform and cropping opportunities is expected to draw widespread interest and deliver more than $25 million for Gunnedah Portfolio on the Liverpool Plains of northern NSW.

Offering economies of scale via beef finishing and summer and winter cropping, the 2550ha aggregation spans five semi-contiguous landholdings – 672ha Kilburnie, 1057ha Teneriffe, 307ha Frogmore Irrigation, 290ha Pullaming and 222ha Phantoms Run.

Such an enterprise will likely draw the attention of corporates, high net-worth individuals, investors looking for a commercial rural asset or more development upside, a beef supply chain or a large-scale breeding operation looking to finish and fatten cattle.

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The Gunnedah Portfolio is the headquarters of Tony Clift’s well-known Kilburnie Cattle Co, which commanded holdings from Cunnamulla in south-east Queensland to north western NSW and the New England.

Located 8km from Gunnedah and 81km from Tamworth, the country is characterised by floodplains rising to gentle slopes primarily cleared for modern farming and pasture establishment.

Soil types comprise primarily black self-mulching clay rising to red basalts with ample opportunities for production upside through irrigation development.

The portfolio is highly productive (83pc arable) and, combined with an idyllic climate, is conducive to winter and summer crop production in both dryland and irrigated production systems.

A progressive management program has been created with 1300ha of winter and summer-active legume and sub-tropical pastures planted tailored to the region’s climate.

The annual cropping program incorporates grazing sorghum, grazing oats and wheat, with 600ha of winter crop currently planted.

Running 3100 head, the Gunnedah Portfolio operates as a beef backgrounding platform using dryland and irrigated grain and fodder crops to background cattle in a ‘feed-assisted’ grazing model.

A modern supplementary feeding paddock configuration aims to allow paddock-fed cattle to optimise weightgain through pastures, as well as supplementary feeding rations produced on-farm.

There is scope for further development in both the expansion of the supplementary feeding program as well as irrigation development in cash crops, including cotton grown on laser-levelled irrigated cultivation.

Water is a feature, with direct frontage and access to the Mooki and Namoi Rivers. There are five water access licences across the aggregation, as well as several bores.

There is currently 113ha of flood irrigation developed on Frogmore Irrigation supplied by the Namoi River.

During the last 10 years, high-quality improvements have been carried out across the portfolio, including water upgrades, fencing reconfiguration and pasture establishment.

There are eight newly built feed/machinery sheds (10,000sq m) to support the progressive supplementary feeding system, 1000 head of steel cattle yards, grain storage, additional shedding plus five houses.

The jewel of the Gunnedah Portfolio is the magnificent five-bedroom Kilburnie homestead, boasting an outstanding location on an elevated hill geographically positioned at the centre of the property.

Sam Triggs from Inglis Rural Property said the Gunnedah Portfolio is arguably one of the best assets on the Liverpool Plains.

“It has scale, is diverse, has multiple water sources for irrigation, phenomenal soils, a magnificent homestead complex with an infinity pool, it fronts two highways and is close to Gunnedah,” he said.

The aggregation offers a turn-key opportunity with livestock, plant and machinery available to purchase on a walk-in-walk-out basis.

• The Gunnedah Portfolio is available in one line or as separate assets on a contingent basis and is being offered for sale via expressions of interest, through Inglis Rural Property, with submissions closing on July 15.