December 2, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Colin Ross, the owner of Australia’s North Star Pastoral, is selling two of the country’s well-known cattle stations – Maryfield and Limbunya – with expectations that the assets will fetch $150 million.

Located in the Victoria River District in the Northern Territory, the combined stations are known to be prime cattle operations covering 670,000 hectares (1,655,606 acres), and will include 60,000 head of Brahman and Brahman-cross cattle in the deal. 

North Star was founded in 2004 in Queensland with the acquisition of Venture Downs. Over the years the company has expanded to own holdings covering more than 800,000 hectares (1,976,843 acres) of land across Queensland and the Northern Territory, and for the past 15 years has been exporting beef to Asian markets.

Maryfield not only has flat, rich soil, but is rare in that it includes a newly built feedlot with a capacity for 10,000 head – making it one of only a few in the territory. Making it an even more unique opportunity, the station also includes access to bitumen. 

Danny Thomas with CBRE Agribusiness, and Olivia Thompson, sales specialist with Nutrien Harcourts, expect that the assets will fetch at least $150 million – but will need a buyer as unique as they are. 

“To really maximize the benefits of what has been developed on Maryfield, it needs people with greater resources that can add cash and cattle and take it to the next level,” said Thomas, adding, “While we think the properties sit really well together, we are happy to separate them as well.”

Over the past 10 years both stations have benefitted from extensive improvements including new fencing in the hundreds of kilometers, solar-powered bores, pastures that have been aerial seeded and strengthened with drought-tolerant grasses and legumes, and genetic improvements to the Limbunya herd through new Brahman stud bulls, and the implementation of a rumen development program and weaning protocols.

“Maryfield and Limbunya are testament to Colin Ross’s vision and drive to develop a best-in-class beef business that can operate year-round,” said Thomas.

Both properties also include manager and employee housing, workshops, storage and machinery sheds, and will include a fleet of equipment.

The sale is being carried out under an international expression of interest that expires on January 14, 2021, so there exists anticipation of possible bids from exporters, or businesses from overseas – possibly Argentina, Vietnam, or South Africa, according to Thomas who said, “There are many high quality stations in the Northern Territory, but none that I have observed have had this level of capital expenditure, executed with fastidious attention-to-detail, operating a meticulous and well thought-out production system which seeks to maximise returns at all levels.”

“Maryfield and Limbunya are testament to Colin Ross’s vision and drive to develop a best-in-class beef business that can operate year-round.”

For buyers looking to diversify or gain an entry into Australia’s cattle sector, there can be no better time than now. Only last week, GAI News shared that Hancock Prospecting was planning on selling off as many as six of its cattle stations in order to free itself to capitalize upon other agricultural or cattle investment opportunities. 

However, another underlying reason for the divestment may be due to operational difficulties caused by government regulations. 

Hinting at why this may be the case, Hancock Prospecting noted in a statement to Beef Central, “Government red tape has increased 80-fold since the 1970s when the first environmental legislation was passed and tellingly, in that period, production has only doubled. Initially, 57 pages, now, there is something like 4000 pages of legislation, regulation, green tape and red tape that impacts on what farmers do and our capacity to grow food for the rest of the world.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.