Glen Emu Station being knocked down for $16.1 million has created a new benchmark for pastoral land in the Balranald region.
Elders Real Estate’s Peter Robertson says it is the “biggest sale in recent memory in this part of the world” and will underpin the local market for some time.
Peter says the station was made up of four properties – Glen Emu (12,673ha), Ettrick (12,804ha), Llanover Downs (10,331ha) and Glen Dee (7525ha) – which totalled 43,334ha (107,000 acres) and was sold by the Newnham and Hiscock families, who have owned the bulk of the country for the past 20 years.
He says the buyers – Bill and Pip Ryan of neighbouring property Oakdene – are going through a portfolio expansion and their strong understanding of the region made the acquisition a logical opportunity too good to pass up.
“The sale price realised $150.50 per acre, and this has to be the largest public offering in this area for many, many years,” Peter says.
“With a Local Land Services carrying capacity of 18,000dse, Glen Emu Station has been used for breeding Merino sheep and runs around 8000-8500 breeding ewes, which means it has been very conservatively stocked for some time,” he says.
“And with the recent good season it has shown how easily the land can bounce back and it was in good heart throughout the sale process.
“It is all grazing country and Glen Emu Station has a water supply via a pipeline from the Murrumbidgee River to tanks and troughs on the farm, while there are catchment dams on Glendee.”
Elders Barham agents Jason Telford and Matt Horne also worked on the sale to cope with the interest from prospective buyers in the Riverina, Victoria and South Australia.
Peter says the opportunity to secure “a large standalone holding of size, with significant capital spent on improvements in recent time – including much of the fencing upgraded in the past five years – was a big part of the attraction”.
“Located about 60km north of Balranald, it certainly has the ability to run a good number of stock according to the seasons,” he adds.
“Across the aggregation there are 23 main paddocks with established fencing, a central laneway system running east to west and outlying stock yards – the main yards can handle about 3000 head and the seven-stand shearing shed has been recently renovated.”
Peter says another potential revenue stream on the station is the number of goats coming onto the properties.
“The rangeland goat market adds another string to the Glen Emu bow at very little cost to the owners,” he says.
