AUGUST 2025
News
. 9 TIERS BIGGEST SALES $500 MILLION KOOBA AGGREGATION, GRIFFITH, NSW 31,400 HECTARES BUYER: Australian Food and Fibre (PSP Investments (Canada) and Robinson family), Stahmann Webster (PSP Investments (Canada)) SELLER: KoobaCo (PSP Investments (Canada), Chris Corrigan, David Fitzsimons) UNDISCLOSED JANERIN AGGREGATION, BROOKSTEAD, QLD 2896 HECTARES BUYER: Private family office (via Growth Farms) SELLER: Alexander Woo (Hong Kong) $75 MILLION WIRRIBILLA, WALCHA, NSW 5003 HECTARES BUYER: S.Kidman & Co (Gina Rinehart and Shanghai CRED (China)) SELLER: Sam Swire (UK) $68 MILLION CALROSSIE FARM, MOREE, NSW 5700 HECTARES BUYER: Farmland Reserve (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, USA) Canada, remains active in the $30 million-plus segment, particularly where opportunities offer vertical integration or strategic supply chain advantages.” This has been evident in recent landmark transactions. North American institutional capital backed two of the largest recent deals: the circa $500 million sale of the 31,400-hectare Kooba Aggregation in the NSW Riverina to PSP Investment-backed Australian Food and Fibre and Stahmann Webster, and Farmland Reserve’s $68 million acquisition of Calrossie Farm at Moree and its $38 million purchase of the 6020ha Kentucky Aggregation near Forbes. Farmland Reserve, the agricultural investment arm of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now controls four major cropping aggregations across eastern Australia, worth almost $500 million and spanning more than 40,000 hectares.
WAVE OF C AUTIOUS and considered are the words rural property experts are using to describe the race for Australia’s farmland so far this year, with a clear divide emerging between those still actively buying and those holding back. Varied seasonal conditions have tested producers, from extreme flooding in parts of NSW and Queensland to widespread drought across South Australia, Victoria and southern NSW. Fluctuating commodity prices and rising production costs have further tightened balance sheets for both corporate and family farmers, prompting a more measured approach to land acquisitions. “It’s cashflow that pays the bills and the profit to cover interest,” Preston Rowe Paterson director Roger Hill says. “With the values of land so strong and cashflows having endured the softening of recent years, yield compression is (now a major consideration).” Hill says due-diligence modelling over the past year had shown compressed yields that “may not look good for investors … in the short term” but he noted “an air of longer positivity in the commodity markets.” He adds that some global investors also see Australian rural land as a safe investment option during times of elevated global economic risk. For them, rural assets can be a hedge against portfolio risk, rather than a vehicle for maximum short-term returns. Preston Rowe director James Skuthorp says while overall activity has slowed since the Covid-era farmland boom, upper- tier buyers have maintained their momentum. “Institutional and large family-corporate enterprises continue to demonstrate the greatest resilience,” Skuthorp says. “Offshore capital, particularly from North America and
Cashed-up institutional and family-corporate investors are driving record farmland deals as smaller buyers retreat, writes TALLIS MILES
SELLER: Proterra Investment Partners (USA) $50 MILLION-PLUS TORRUMBARRY FARMS AGGREGATION, ECHUCA, VIC 4031 HECTARES BUYER: McLean Farms (Pittsworth, QLD) SELLER: Australian Fresh Milk Holdings (Australia-China) BIGGEST LISTINGS $2.5-$3 BILLION PARAWAY PASTORAL COMPANY 4.48 MILLION HECTARES SELLER: Macquarie Asset Management $200-$250 MILLION MILLUNGERA STATION, JULIA CREEK, QLD 342,000 HECTARES SELLER: Acton Cattle Company (Acton family) $200 MILLION MERROWIE AND SUNLAND AGGREGATION, HILLSTON, NSW 34,523 HECTARES SELLER: MERS Global Investments LLC (USA) $90 MILLION-PLUS LAKE SHASTER, MUNGLINUP, WA 9048 HECTARES SELLER: Arkle Farms (Paul and Deidre Cowan) $65 MILLION TUPPAL STATION, TOCUMWAL, NSW 5548 HECTARES SELLER: Lotus Oaks
The market’s strength at the top end will also be tested in coming months, following Macquarie Asset Management’s decision to divest its Paraway Pastoral Company business. With 4.48 million hectares across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, the sale is expected to exceed $2.5 billion, making it one of the largest rural property transactions in Australian history. “These landmark deals underscore the bifurcation within the market: high-value transactions remain active at the top end, while small to mid-sized family operations continue to trade steadily but without the same momentum,” Skuthorp says. Below the top echelon, buyers are more reserved. Bendigo Bank agribusiness senior manager industry affairs Neil Burgess says activity is “similar to last year” in the mid-tier market.
Tallis Miles is The Weekly Times property reporter
Torrumbarry Farms near Echuca in Victoria and (inset) Wirribilla in NSW.
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