Property

Twiggy Forrest’s Harvest Road agrees to buy New Norcia Farm

Beef Central, 07/12/2021

Subject to approval from the Holy See, Harvest Road will buy New Norcia Farms from the Benedictine Community. Photo: Ray White Rural WA

HARVEST Road has reached an agreement to buy New Norcia Farm as part of the growth of its fully integrated cattle and beef supply chain across Western Australia.

Vendor of the property is the Benedictine community, and the sale to the company owned by Andrew and Nicola Forrest is subject to approval by the Holy See.

New Norcia Farm is located next to the historic township of New Norcia established by the Benedictine monks in 1847, and includes 3698 hectares of arable land, and grazing country now being used for sheep.

The 7975ha property has been developed over the last century for grazing and cropping, and it currently has a cropping focus in this wheatbelt region renowned for high rainfall and quality soil types.

It has frontage to the Moore River, and is located 132km north of Perth. The property has been marketed by BJW Agribusiness and Ray White Rural WA through an expressions-of-interest campaign.

A sale price has not been disclosed.

New Norcia Farm was widely expected to achieve well in excess of $4000/ha, and an expected sale figure north of $35 million has been reported in WA.

Close to Koojan

Harvest Road CEO Paul Slaughter said New Norcia Farm’s proximity to the company’s Koojan Downs Feeding Facility will be strategically important once it opens early next year.

Construction is now nearing completion.

“The acquisition of New Norcia Farm is the continuation of our significant investment into the future of Western Australia’s beef industry, and we believe it will play an important part in unlocking the transformational impact of the Koojan Downs Feeding Facility,” Mr Slaughter said.

“Together with New Norcia Farm, our network of integrated supply-chain assets represents a game-changer for WA and strategic step to mitigate against changing climatic conditions, stabilising the local beef supply chain, and enhancing the local economy through investment and local job creation,” Mr Slaughter said.

Tattarang chief investment officer John Hartman said Harvest Road was committed to protecting and enhancing the property’s status as some of the best farming land in WA.

“We pay tribute to the outstanding stewardship of the Benedictine community that has preserved the exceptional productivity of the land for almost two centuries, and we are committed to further developing the farm’s productive capacity,” Mr Hartman said.

“We are committed to investing into New Norcia’s future and we look forward to working with the surrounding shires to create new value for local communities and unlock long-term jobs.”

The Forrests’ Tattarang Group is the parent of Harvest Road, an agrifood business which includes the Leeuwin Coast aquafood brand.

The group’s beef division includes the Harvey Beef brand, and its facility at Harvey makes it WA’s s largest beef processor.

Harvest Road’s Koojan operation will accommodate 20,000 cattle, with a view to supplying 70,000 grain-finished cattle each year to Harvest Road’s processing facility at Harvey.

The facility will not be a conventional feedlot, but will instead provide grain-based rations in self-feeders located in grassed paddocks.

 

Source: Harvest Road

 

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