THIS week’s property review includes this wrap-up of recently completed sales, and a separate article on interesting recent listings across the country.

• Pickersgill portfolio grows with $40m Aldinga Park
• Local secures Sunshine Coast grazing for $7m-$8m
• Historic NSW pastoral lease under contract

Pickersgill portfolio grows with $40m Aldinga Park

The Pickersgill family has added another cattle breeding aggregation in Central Queensland to its extensive and growing property portfolio.

It has paid in excess of $40 million for the 35,448ha Aldinga Park, located 50km south of Rolleston and 350km west of Rockhampton in the renowned Central Highlands brigalow country.

Included in the sale was a quality line of more than 2500 Droughtmaster and Brahman females, a mixed range of dry cattle and some plant and machinery.

Aldinga Park is parallel to the Carnarvon Ranges, 40km from Bandana Station which the Pickersgills purchased in October last year. 

It has been home to Aldinga Droughtmaster Stud, owned and run by Terry and Catherine Piggott who breed and fatten bullocks for the Jap Ox and domestic markets, as well as producing trade and stud heifers.

The Piggotts will continue to run stud cattle on their home property Barkala in the Arcadia Valley.

The tightly-held Central Queensland district has become a strong hunting ground for the Pickersgill family for great reasons.

Well positioned in a reliable rainfall belt, the country consists of quality alluvial blue gum creek flats, pushing into valleys of undulating ironbark forest and blue gum woodlands. The country supports abundant buffel grass.

Aldinga Park is well-watered by numerous troughs, dams and spring-fed tributaries.

The off-market sale was negotiated by Grant Veivers of the Resolute Property Group, who was unable to disclose the price paid.

Just last week, the Pickersgill family paid around $30 million for Neutral Junction Station – a large-scale turn-key beef breeding and farming opportunity in Central Australia.

The sale of Neutral Junction included 7000 head of Droughtmaster cross, Ultra Black and Santa Gertrudis cattle, including 4158 breeders and around 120 bulls.

Based at Washpool near Comet, the Pickersgill family owns nine choice cattle properties in buffel grass bullock fattening country around Rolleston, Bauhinia Downs and Alpha in Central Queensland, spanning around 100,000ha.

In March 2020, they also secured the 447,500ha Murranji Station south-west of Daly Waters in the Northern Territory for $23 million including 12,500 cattle, to act as a calf factory.

More recently, in October last year, the Pickersgills paid more than $30 million for the 17,477ha Bandana Station, 240km north of Roma and 240km south of Emerald, in the high rainfall foothills of the Carnarvon Ranges.

• We will circle back for a discussion with Kevin Pickersgill, looking at the current Queensland property market from an active buyer’s perspective, next week.

 

Local secures Sunshine Coast grazing for $7m-$8m

A local has paid between $7 million and $8 million for a well-located grazing asset on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Bordering a national park and state forest, Penyrhoel Station is 15km north-east of Gympie, 55km north-west of Noosa Heads and 160km north-west of Brisbane.

Grant Veivers from the Resolute Property Group was unable to disclose the buyer or the price paid, but said the incoming purchaser was adding Penyrhoel to his existing holdings.

Mr Veivers handled the sale of Penyrhoel with Leah Freney from Colliers Agribusiness.

Owned by a Queensland partnership, the 895ha property boasts views north to Tin Can Bay and south to the Noosa Hinterland.

The breeding and backgrounding operation for stud and commercial cattle is currently running more than 600 breeders on native and improved semi-tropical pastures.

There is significant cattle infrastructure including 7km of internal laneways and purpose-built quality steel cattle yards with a calf and spray race.

Around 20ha is established to irrigated pasture with permanent sprinklers.

The property is watered by two large spring-fed dams, spring fed creeks and natural waterholes.

Existing underground mains are found across the holding allowing for future potential uses, such as further intensive cell grazing or horticulture (subject to further development).

Pockets of established timber have been assessed and left for future milling purposes.

 

Historic NSW pastoral lease under contract

One of the oldest pastoral leases in New South Wales’ western division has been placed under contract for the ‘asking price’ after failing to sell at auction.

The 16,458ha Booroomugga Station is situated 90km north-west of Nyngan and 50km west of Girilambone.

Last week, it was passed in at $4.55 million.

For the past seven years it has been owned and operated by Pat Lyons from Leeton who has decided to concentrate on his other business interests.

Booroomugga boasts soft sweet heavy carrying country, Mulga Creek basin farming soils with slightly undulating to flat red loams and chocolate loams in the creeks.

After a wet winter, the property is looking lush and carrying a large body of native grasses and herbages, clovers, corkscrew crowfoot and copper burr.

Situated in a 380mm annual rainfall region, Booroomugga is watered by 24 earth dams and seasonal waterholes in the Mulga Creek system.

A feature of the historic holding is an original 1890s timber and pine seven-stand shearing shed, as well as yards that can handle 3000 sheep.

In the past, Booroomugga ran 350 breeding cows and sold between 800 and 1000 rangeland goats a year. Today, 98 percent of Booroomugga is destocked, with the property carrying just 100 Dorper ewes.

David Russell from Nutrien Russell Property & Livestock said once fully developed, the carrying capacity on Booroomugga will be greatly increased.

The sale included a 2143ha cultivation licence of which 525ha has been sown to wheat. A further 685ha pulled and mostly all raked.

 

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