Open country on Kalyeeda
NEIGHBOURS Nerrima Pastoral Co have bought Kalyeeda Station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia on a walk-in, walk-out basis, including a high-quality Droughtmaster herd numbering around 9000 head, stock horses, plant and equipment.
Emanuel Brothers’ Nerrima Pastoral Co owns neighbouring Nerrima Station to the west of Kalyeeda, creating an aggregation of some 325,000ha.
No price has been disclosed, but when listed in June, offers above $27.5 million were being sought for Kalyeeda. An earlier expressions of interest campaign (2024) sought offers above $30 million, at that time with 8100 cattle.
The transaction has received ministerial approval from the WA Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage.
Located 100km from Fitzroy Crossing, Kalyeeda is a productive 122,500ha pastoral lease including 40,000ha of fertile flood plains watered by the Fitzroy River and Kalyeeda Creek system.
Buyers the Emanuel Brothers bought neighbouring Nerrima Station in 2021 from Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture in a deal worth about $30 million walk-in, walk out including more than 15,000 head of cattle. Hancock’s Liveringa Station lies across the Fitzroy River to the north.
The Emanuel family, who founded and later sold the WA livestock export business, Emanuel Exports, are no strangers to the Kimberley region.
In the 1880s, the Durack and the Emanuel families together claimed over one million acres along the Fitzroy River in the West Kimberley and a similar amount along the Ord River in the East Kimberley.
In the early 1900s, the family owned Fitzroy Crossing’s Gogo Station and Noonkanbah Station located further to the south east.
Venders Peter Camp and family have owned and developed Kalyeeda since 1995, but offered the property as part of succession planning.
LAWD director Olivia Thompson, who listed Kalyeeda along with colleague Simon Wilkinson, said the scale and efficiency of the property’s management systems reflected an average annual turn-off of 3000 to 3500 steers and females.
“Over the past five seasons, Kalyeeda has mustered close to 12,000 head of cattle per year, reflecting the significant capital investment the vendors have made in state-of-the art handling facilities,” Ms Thompson said.
“This has included a $900,000 centrally located cattle yard complex with capacity for 2,500 head, as well as quality fencing and a laneway system for efficient stock movement.”
Beef Central featured the station’s recently completed set of highly efficient, large scale cattle yards in this earlier story.
Kalyeeda yards taken from a chopper in July. Click on image for a larger view
LAWD Director, Simon Wilkinson, said Kalyeeda’s prompt sale was an indication of the value of its operational infrastructure, and a vote of confidence in Western Australia’s cattle industry.
“While we are unable to disclose the final sale price, we are pleased it was in line with the price guidance offered,” Mr Wilkinson said.
“The property attracted solid enquiry throughout the sale process, with four Expressions of Interest during the campaign.”
“The commitment of the Camp family to develop Kalyeeda over the past 30 years using technology-driven modern pastoral practices and sustainable land management, ensured it presented as an outstanding investment opportunity.”
The property is boundary fenced and has a mix of open forest, some red sandplains and 40,000ha of fertile Fitzroy River and Kalyeeda Creek floodplains featuring rich cracking clays that support Mitchell, paragrass, birdwood, bundle and ribbon grass, as well as curly spinifex.
Infrastructure includes a four-bedroom home, a three-bedroom home, staff accommodation, numerous sheds and two sets of cattle yards, each with capacity around 2000 head.
Kalyeeda features a professionally monitored water supply system throughout, with 21 solar-equipped bores reticulating to steel water tanks connected to Farmbot remote monitoring systems and rain gauges. Other stock water supply comes from Fitzroy River frontage, 12 permanent and semi-permanent billabongs and four dams, supported by 450mm of annual rainfall.
Operational infrastructure includes purpose-built steel sheds for machinery and hay storage and stables, and an abundance of accommodation options for staff and managers in the 1.8-hectare homestead complex.
The property’s primary market outlet is live export out of Broome, with steers sold at 380-420kg to repeat buyers, based on the quality of the cattle and prior performance in Southeast Asian feedlots.
A 1200-metre gravel airstrip built in 2024 enables easy access by air to Fitzroy Crossing (100km), Derby (220km), Broome (260km) and Kununurra (530km).
In the late 1980s, both Kalyeeda and neighbouring Christmas Creek were created when much larger leases were broken up by the WA Government into family-scale holdings, in what was called ‘The Fitzroy Valley Restructure.’
Other properties created in the bust-up included Beefwood Park, Bolka, Cheribin and others.
One of the advantages in being established only three decades or so ago, is that all of Kalyeeda’s infrastructure – fencing, waters, homestead and buildings – are reasonably new.
Fitzroy River frontage on Kalyeeda