The 97,500ha Nardoo, situated 280km northwest of Cloncurry and 95km west of the Burke & Wills Roadhouse, was sold on a walk-in walk-out basis with plant and equipment.

SAM Daniels from one of the Queensland Gulf region’s biggest cattle producing families, this morning paid $35 million for large-scale breeding and fattening property Nardoo, at a Ray White Rural auction in Brisbane.

The 97,500ha (240,928ac) property located 280km northwest of Cloncurry and 95km west of the Burke and Wills Roadhouse attracted strong interest from large-scale producers seeking breeding country.

It is understood there were up to a dozen registered bidders at the auction. Noticed in the crowd were members of the Pearson and Hughes families. The Pearsons recently sold downs country property Terrick, near Blackall, to AAM.

The successful purchaser, Sam Daniels, is the managing director of his family’s stock and station agency, Brodie & Co at Cloncurry, as well as the family’s cattle pastoral company which owns a string of stations including Escott Station near Burketown in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Toolebuc Station south of McKinlay.

In April, Mr Daniels was elected Cloncurry’s deputy mayor. His brother Andrew was a former mayor.

Nardoo was offered on the open market for the first time and sold on a walk-in, walk-out basis with cattle and an extensive list of plant and machinery. For the past ten years, it has been owned and operated by Peter and Ann Woollett, who have purchased country elsewhere.

The country is described as an excellent balance of heavy black soil open downs, Mitchell grass plains and Leichhardt River frontage running back to open forest. The dominant grasses are Queensland blue, buffel, Mitchell grass, black spear, Flinders, white spear and numerous other natives.

Nardoo boasts double frontage to the Leichhardt River and numerous other creek systems that have permanent and semi-permanent waterholes. There are also ten equipped bores.

RWR selling agent Bill Seeney said the incoming purchaser will be able to maximise returns with very little capital expenditure.

“All the hard work has been done. Over the last six years, there has been a major upgrade of the property’s structural improvements, including waters and fencing. This has resulted in ease of management and minimising mustering and running costs,” he said.

The block is divided into 13 main paddocks and numerous holding paddocks. There are four sets of permanent steel cattle yards, strategically located, and one set of portable yards.

Fencing is of a high standard, with around 200km erected in the past nine years.

Estimated carrying capacity is 8000 breeders, with progeny to weaning, however at the time of sale, Nardoo was running 5812 head of Droughtmaster and Brahman cross cattle which were included in the sale.

Region’s recent sales

In other big local sales, in November last year, a New South Wales father and son partnership paid almost $25 million (land and water licences) for the McClymont family’s large-scale breeding and finishing operation Etta Plains in north west Queensland.

Robyn and Luke Findley, from the Narrabri-based Findley family, purchased the property to harness flood waters for irrigation and dryland farming.

Etta Plains, 120km north of Julia Creek, is positioned in the fertile, self-cracking clay soils of the Gulf country. Of the 28,442ha, there are 19,500ha of potential cropping land – 9500ha of potential irrigation and 10,000ha of dryland.