February 16, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

With expectations of fetching in the mid-A$30 million range, the iconic Emu Creek station in Petford, Australia, is on the market for the first time in 155 years.

Emu Creek was originally acquired in 1868 by George Robert Gill for one pound per acre (the minimum price for rural land at the time). In the beginning, the property included a station cottage, a barn, woolshed, paddock, and a nearby washpool. 

In 1874, Gill was the first to import Vermont Merino sheep from San Francisco into Australia to establish his flock, and later formed a Merino stud on stock from Havilah Station in Mudgee, famous for its sheep.

In 1908, Gill’s son, George Robert Gill II, built the existing homestead, including electricity and a telephone, and steam engines were adopted to drive farm equipment. Further generations continued to adopt new technologies and oversee improvements to the land and its infrastructure, leading to Emu Creek gaining international acclaim from British, French, and Italian mills for its Superfine Merino wool.

Due to the superior quality of the wool produced at the station, the family achieved record prices on numerous occasions; were repeat winners of the prestigious English Lumb’s Gold Bale Award; and twice won the Italian Ermenegildo Zegna Award. 

Today, the holding has been developed into a thriving breeding and fattening station with the capacity to maintain 25,000 DSE, and is conservatively stocked with a mix of late spring calving cows, replacement heifers, and Dorper ewes lambing on a nine-month cycle. 

Col Medway, senior director with property specialists LAWD, who is managing the sale of the holding commented, “Emu Creek has been run and well maintained by current owners Mark and Angie Berry. It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to be involved in the transaction of such a remarkable and unique property.”

“Benefiting from an average of 700mm rainfall per annum, the property will suit any institutional investor or large farming family looking for scale and will cater for any mix of livestock production,” continued Medway.

“There is also a significant opportunity for further development which will provide new owners with the ability to increase the operational scale of the property.”

More than 700 hectares of pastures at Emu Creek have been improved with perennial grasses and clover, while another 1,369 hectares are of open native grassland and clover pastureland. 

It includes multiple water sources including 24 kilometers of frontage to a number of creeks such as Dog Tap Creek, Emu Creek, and Brookmount Creek, providing a strong water supply. In addition, stock water is provided through a series of 28 dams, and six bores and a solar pump deliver water from Brookmount Creek to head tanks which gravity feed 37 strategically located concrete troughs. 

“Emu Creek has been a wonderful home to all of us over the generations,” said Angie Berry, a fifth generation family member on the property, “and it has been an enormous privilege to be the custodian of this beautiful property.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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