It's not enough to just have a beach weekender anymore.

Tech billionaire Michael Cannon-Brookes and wife Annie have now added a rural retreat.

Their weekender Joadja Creek Farm, cost the Atlassian co-founder $3.3 million.

It is 390 hectare hobby farm in the small heritage registered town of Joadja, some 140 kilometres from Sydney in the Southern Highlands. 

The secluded farm is surrounded by native bushland, with horse riding trails and wildlife aplenty.

The four bedroom home was architecturally designed in 1996 by the Haege family with wrap-around verandahs and sits amid an orchard.

Its on Joadja Creek with water holes, three dams and a bore.

Brookes has been Centennial Park based since 2015 when he secured Braelin, the $12 million Lang Road trophy home.

He owns a $8.7 million Palm Beach holiday home.

The couple own a Centennial Park home bought from luxury car dealer Ian Pagent and wife Marianne for $12 million.

The Californian bungalow style home built in 1918 for Sir Allen Taylor, a former lord mayor of Sydney is set for a makeover given the family's need for more bedrooms.

They have just spent $7.05 million on the Double Bay trophy home SeaDragon, the 1936 Professor Leslie Wilkinson designed Mediterranean style villa while they await the renovations.

It was sold by QC Francis Douglas through Sally Hampshire at Laing+Simmons inconjunction with Sothebys International.

This article first appeared in the Saturday Daily Telegraph. 

The Tamworth district farms, Mount View Station (above) and Wildcroft have been listed for sale with an $8.5 million price tag.  

Considered one of the New England’s most prestigious properties, the current landowners have transformed the four 1800s properties on the estate.

It comes with the large Federation era homesead with 11 inch pressed metal ceilings.  

Spanning 2,500 hectares, the land currently serves as soft grazing country housing about 5,000 lambs.

It can be used as tourism accommodation. 

There are over 90 dams with 34 new and 11 key dams. Is infrastructure includes a prerequisite woolshed, sheep and cattle yards, silos and machinery sheds.  

The property has been listed through Gavin Beard of Landmark Tamworth. 

The Victorian-era country mansion, Tongy that has housed generations of well-heeled pastoralists through 180 years, has been burnt down.

The homestead and 4637ha station is just 5km north of the tiny village of Uarbry, which lost five of its 11 homes in the recent blaze.

Set on the banks of the Talbragar River, the homestead overlooked some of the state’s best black soil plains for crops and cattle farming.

Marshall Baillieu, chief executive of investment bank Rothschild Australia bought the property from family members for ­almost $20 million two years ago.

The estate agent who sold the property Richard Royle said residents had lost their homes, and also lost their businesses.

The Victorian sandstone home had an elegant wraparound veranda and stately central corridor that had featured in a number of films.

It was in 1825 the former convict Richard Fitzgerald was granted freehold title over the property by NSW governor.

Fitzgerald had acted as an overseer of the colony’s early farms.

Until the weekend, sitting at the homestead’s front doorstep was a 150-year old doormat — which was still used everyday and still carried the initials and crest of Fitzgerald.

The Baillieu family bought the property in 1923 from Fitzgerald's five grand daughters. 

Tongy was resold in 2015 within the family after it was offered widely to other investors.

The rural sector in the Northern Territory welcomes 2017 in a very positive fashion, with a promising start to the wet season and very good commodity prices generally, according to Herron Todd White’s latest report.

The property valuation firm says that it brings an air of confidence which will hopefully result in increased activity and investment.

In the pastoral sector, strong live export prices are still being experienced out of Darwin and other northern ports.

Although it would appear that most NT properties changed hands in the course of 2015/6, there are in fact a number of properties still on the market.

“We are aware of at least three pastoral lease transactions to have exchanged not only in the Top End but also in the Centre, and hope to report on these once they are finalised.

Additionally, the purchase of Phoenix Park at Katherine by the Hancock Group has seen renewed interest in larger freehold blocks with good highway access, which are suitable for depot blocks, especially for owners of more remote pastoral leases that do not have good access.

Again, we will provide details once these properties have settled,” the report stated.

Many of these types of properties also have horticultural potential.

Through 2016, the sandalwood industry continued to show its dominance in this sector, purchasing and developing more country.

The latest sale of Early Storms in the Douglas Daly district further consolidated this trend.

Early Storms had previously been a very productive melon farm, however its conversion to sandalwood is indicative of changing land uses in this district.

The emergence of the sandalwood industry is also part of the reason for an increasing focus on water allocations in the NT.

“At this time, we are not aware of any arm’s length sales of water licences between properties in the NT.

However as investment in horticulture increases, it is expected that demand for water will increase.

Over time, we expect to see the value of water allocations in the NT become much more important to the same extent seen in irrigation areas in southern states,” the report stated.

The NT has an abundance of water and an abundance of land but there are relatively few places where good quality soil types and reliable water intersect.

Certainly the NT Government wants to ensure that the mistakes of over allocation of water licences which occurred in other jurisdictions is not repeated here.

“We therefore see that the limited amount of allocated water will become more valuable over time, possibly at a faster rate than the land on which it is used,” the report stated.

A rural property at 6755 Florina Road, Katherine (above), the Florina Station, was sold for $6,802,534 last August.

The total land value for the Northern Tablelands region has increased over the 12 month period to 1 July 2016 by 9.5 percent from $7.42 billion to $8.13 billion.

Rural properties showed the highest overall increase of approximately 11.4 percent.

Good seasonal conditions together with strong commodity prices for beef and lamb have been the main drivers for strong increases in rural land values in the region.

Inverell LGA showed the strongest increase (20.3 percent), while the lowest growth was experienced in the Walcha LGA (7.9 percent).

A 961 ha mixed farming land at Inverell (above) has been listed for sale for $3,750,000.

Residential land values increased by 6.2 percent overall.

The highest increases were in the LGAs of Uralla (12.1 percent), Inverell (7.7 percent) and Armidale (7.2 percent), whilst Walcha (-4.9 percent) and Glen Innes (-2.1 percent) showed a decrease in value.

Residential land at Uralla (above) was recently sold for $107,000.

Commercial land values across the region generally remained steady.

Click to enlarge

The strongest increase occurred in the LGA of Uralla (16.8 percent).

However, commercial land values decreased in the LGAs of Walcha (-5.3 percent) and Glen Innes (-2.4 percent) reflecting lower demand for commercial property in these areas.

Industrial land values for the region have generally remained steady.

The strongest increase was experienced in Uralla (9 percent), with the largest decrease in Walcha (-5 percent).

For more information including interactive online land value summaries for all LGAs and 14 regions covering the state go to 

The level of confidence is always the key to the rural property market in South West Victoria, according to Herron Todd White's latest report.

The property valuation firm says that in general terms the farming sector in south west Victoria apart from dairying commences the new year in positive terms coming off the back of a good last half of 2016.

"We predict continued strong investment in agriculture through 2017, with influencing factors including the following:

• no indication of an easing of the record market prices for beef and prime lamb.
• there is abundant feed in the paddocks and reserves of hay have been replenished.
• interest rates to borrow from banks remain cheap.
• limited stock of good property being put to the open market for sale.
• for large scale grazing holdings domestic purchasers beating off foreign purchasers.
• Government policy is favourable to the rural industry." the report listed.

The values for rural property are predicted to peak in late 2017.

With specific reference to the dairying sector, there is a small glimmer of hope in the wider dairying industry which should show the start of recovery with current levels unlikely to change through 2017.

The rural market has been stable over the previous few years in Gippsland, however there have been some recent sales in the Bass area.

This indicates that there may be an increased interest in the rural small holding market for properties in the ten hectare to 80 hectare range.

Western Gippsland has seen increased interest in rural small holding lots with the completion of the

Pakenham racecourse appearing to increase demand for horse blocks or grazing properties.

The forecast closure of metropolitan racecourses may also increase demand for these lots.

Overall the rural market in western and southern Gippsland region is seen as stable with the potential for price growth over the next 12 months.

Strong seasonal conditions undoubtedly drove demand through the tail end of 2016 in Echuca.

This is likely to drive demand into 2017 particularly in the cropping sector which achieved significantly above average yields across most district (notwithstanding below average pricing).

One of the quiet performers has also been most classes of water which continues to recover in price notwithstanding a falling allocation market.

This has seen general security water surge to $1,275 per megalitre (including allocation) according to some local agents.

Meanwhile Victorian Goulburn water seems to be hovering around the $2,600 to $2,750 per megalitre mark.

There is a $1.2 million asking price on an 118 acre Bass farm through Elders Leongatha.

The farm, Janista is capable of carrying 60 to 70 breeding cows and calves or could make a fattening or horse property.

The private three acre lake is complemented by an additional 4 mega litre pumping license from the Bass River.

GUEST OBSERVER

Most people with mental health issues in rural areas don’t seek treatment and access to mental health services is limited outside the major cities.

So rural professionals like hairdressers, bank managers, agriculture suppliers and vets have a crucial yet often overlooked role in looking after the mental health of their community.

These professionals have trusted work relationships where country people often pour out their emotions and open up to them about their problems. Training in some simple skills would allow them to approach these conversations with confidence, and contribute to improving the mental health of their communities.

Rural mental health

Rates of mental illness in rural communities are actually similar to those in metropolitan areas. However, rural people have higher rates of suicide and harmful alcohol use and about 70% of those with mental health problems do not seek treatment.

This is for a few reasons. First, there is a lack of mental health services in rural areas. In NSW for example, a quarter of people live outside major cities but 91% of psychiatrists have their main practice in a city. Second, people have difficulties accessing what specialist rural services there are due to cost (like lower rates of bulk-billing in rural areas) and distance.

And third, the stigma attached means many people may not seek help. This is especially the case in smaller communities where individuals are more visible and confidentiality may be less certain, and there is a culture of stoicism and self-reliance. All of this leads to people in rural areas being less likely to seek help – people from cities are almost twice as likely to have seen a psychologist in the last year (15%) compared with those from rural areas (8%).

Talking with ‘safe’ professionals

Rural people do often talk about their problems with “safe” professionals – professionals they already have trusted relationships with for other routine reasons. And these professionals – hairdressers, accountants, vets, teachers, agriculture suppliers – often listen to their problems.

Accountants and bank managers are good examples. A rural accounting firm once asked me to come in and train staff on how to deal with farmers who were attending meetings about finance or succession planning, and then letting it all out in a flood of tears about how stressed they were, and sometimes even their thoughts about suicide.

It can be easy to see how hairdressers too can be proxy counsellors, given the very close and trusting relationships they often have with their (especially female) clients. But their role in rural areas can be even more valuable. Some rural families may have only one car for the household, so they may only make it into town once a week. With such limited social contact, the time spent with hairdressers, grocers and early childhood nurses is very valuable in providing social support.

Supporting rural professionals

As mental health professionals we should be actively supporting these existing relationships between people who may be struggling and the “safe” professionals they already talk with. The Turnbull government’s reforms for mental health services announced in 2015 emphasised “our current ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ is not helping Australians […] as best it can”.

The reforms included moving towards a “stepped care model” where people receive varying levels of intervention and support depending on their level of need. For people struggling with emotional issues (but not a mental illness) or an actual (but unrecognised) mental illness, non-stigmatising community support where they are listened to and referred on as appropriate is exactly what they may need.

How can we support these professionals so they know what to do when someone opens up to them? There are a number of existing training programs, including the excellent Mental Health First Aid and Rural Adversity Mental Health Program.

And there is a precedent for providing such support – in the US state of Illinois hairdressers are being given training in domestic violence prevention because of the trusted relationship they have with their clients.

Some tips for supporting someone when they open up to you:

• listen more than you talk
• be non-judgemental
• be aware of appropriate services to refer the person to
• use open-ended questions (cannot be answered “yes” or “no”, such as “so tell me about …”)
• encourage exercise, healthy eating, sleeping and socialising
• be honest - be yourself
• spend time with them
• look after yourself.

Do not:

• give advice (such as “when I am stressed, I have a glass of wine or two” or “go and have a nice flutter at the TAB, that always cheers me up”)
• pressure them to “snap out of it”, “cheer up” or “get their act together”
• avoid the topic
• assume the problem will go away.

It’s important to encourage people and provide a sense of hope that “help is available”. Sometimes all they need is someone to listen.

Gene Hodgins is senior lecturer and Clinical Psychologist, Charles Sturt University and author for The Conversation. He can be contacted here.

GUEST OBSERVER

Rural and regional Australia have had a hard time of late. The economies of Sydney and Melbourne are growing, but much of the rest of their states are not. The population of regional areas is stagnating and agriculture is struggling. 

Perhaps worst of all there is a feeling that no-one in Canberra or in the booming coastal periphery cares about this. The people of Orange have apparently spoken.

Outside Sydney, behind what seems like an impervious sandstone curtain, not all is well. Even the largest towns in regional New South Wales are struggling to retain their populations and have faced difficult economic times through the present decade, although the drought years have faded away.

Outside the big cities, many populations in regional and rural Australia are declining or static. ABS, Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2014-15, CC BY

Agriculture still matters, for employment and exports, but mechanisation has cost jobs. Farming is still how people see rural and regional Australia, but it is certainly not the only thing.

There is more to rural Australia than agriculture, and most places have shifted away from the mass production of agricultural commodities – move over the wheat-sheep belt – towards the marketing of rural lifestyles and landscapes. Farming becomes valuable as scenery.

City people can be tempted for weekends away and old-fashioned farm stays have evolved. But that works most easily for NSW coastal towns – like Berry and Kiama – that are within striking distances of capital cities. More distant inland places have had to work a little harder to diversify.

Ironically, Orange is one of the towns that have led the way in terms of change. An enormously successful FOOD (Food of Orange District) festival has drawn in city crowds and tempted some to remain. At the other end of the state, the Tamworth Country Music Festival has grown every year and been a massive boost to regional income.

Jumpsuiting on the bandwagon

But it is probably even smaller towns that have benefited most from festivals. Most successful of all has been Parkes, otherwise simply a transport centre on the wheat and sheep plains. This week it celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Elvis Festival. 

The whim of a handful of townsfolk, one of whom later changed his name to Elvis Lennox, the festival began in a tiny way in 1993. Parkes citizens were doubtful – what had Elvis to do with rural Australia? But the local newspaper, the tourism office and the rugby club – in jumpsuited style – got on board, and the festival boomed.

Once it lasted barely a weekend. Now it lasts five days. Two hundred people came to the first festival – now there are 20,000, almost twice the town’s population. Accommodation is booked five years in advance, home hosting extends to nearby towns like Forbes and even Orange, and tents overflow on Graceland on the Green. 

The festival brings in more than A$10 million, employs many people, and has enabled even improbable local businesses to prosper. The local vet offers “Elvis costumes for the smaller dog”. The two tattoo parlours bring in new seasonal Elvis designs. Only the funeral directors appear to have failed to gain any trickle-down effects.

Certainly luck helps, but inspiration, patience and creativity – which are not only metropolitan traits – really work. Parkes now has its King’s Castle, an Elvis museum that ensures that Elvis and his famous gold lamé suit never leave town.

Where Parkes has succeeded, its neighbours have sought to follow. Trundle, once famous for having the widest main street in the country, is now more famous for its ABBA festival. Kandos, not much further from Parkes, is working hard to develop its Bob Marley Festival. 

Who will claim Leonard Cohen? Unlike Elvis, he at least had visited Australia.

Musters and other big celebrations

There is music in the air in NSW and that music is creating employment, placing and keeping some small towns on the map and simply being a source of enjoyment when, as in the drought years of earlier this century, times were particularly tough.

The annual Deni Ute Muster has spurred revival in Deniliquin. The more static Utes in the Paddock – an open-air gallery of utes mounted in a parody of Stonehenge – breathed new life into tiny Ootha. Glen Innes remembered its Celtic ancestry and constructed an impressive circle of standing stones. 

Meanwhile, the citizens of Nyngan, at the centre of Bogan Shire, are trusting that the statue of the Big Bogan (“who stands proud with his mullet, stubbies singlet and Southern Cross tattoo”) will breathe some new life into the town in the wake of the success of the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour. And who could resist Priscilla Queen of the Desert’s birthday bash at Broken Hill’s Broken Heel Festival?

But it is not only festivals. Mountain-biking trails may work just as well. Silverton has protected its heritage buildings and become a centre for the visual arts. Bowral can thank Don Bradman for growing up there. Hill End has set the pace in reviving gold panning.

None of these activities can ever effectively replace agriculture, but all have a part to play in making regional Australia a richer and more vibrant place.

Regional Australia cannot be written off. Services, tourism and the creative industries have become a vital part of the regional mix. And the smartest regions are those that have recognised this, sought diversity and flexibility, and become creative. 

On January 12, the Elvis Express will roll into town, and Parkes will celebrate 25 years of a festival that has created employment, generated income, provided a degree of pleasure in the drought years and given one town more than a reason to hope.

John Connell is professor of Human Geography, University of Sydney and can be contacted here.

Chris Gibson is director, UOW Global Challenges Program & Professor of Human Geography, University of Wollongong and can be contacted here.

Both are authors for The Conversation.

A 795 acre lot at Pokolbin has been relisted for sale through Jurd’s Real Estate agent Cain Beckett.

Lot 7 Deasys Road is located in the heart of the Hunter Valley, the largest remaining private holding in Wine Country.

The iconic property has been owned by five generations of the Deasy Family and descendants since the 1860’s.

Its original weatherboard sits among old fig trees in the middle of the property.

"At a time when they had the opportunity to choose the finest land available, the Deasy family chose Rockview and have continued to farm it with cattle, sheep and crops over 140 years," listing agent Cain Beckett said.

"It is home to some spectacular views in the district and is an ideal resort site or commercial development opportunity as it has development approval for an 8 lot rural subdivision," he said.

The zoning of the property allows integrated tourism such as accommodation, a resort, restaurants, a hotel, vineyards or a winery in addition to grazing and other agricultural activities.

It is also suitable for mixed grazing and agriculture use, including establishment of a large vineyard.

Featuring cattle yards, dams and access to the Wine Country Private Irrigation Scheme.

Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart has further expanded her beef cattle empire in northern Australia.

She has bought Aroona Station near Katherine in the Northern Territory, a 147,510 hectare property with 15,000 head of cattle.

Aroona Station sold for $13.5 million having previously sold for $6.4 million in 2006. The $13.5 million figure is for the land only and excludes cattle and plant.

It was bought from beef producers, John and Kate McLoughlin.

Rinehart says Aroona will complement her existing investments in the North.

"It is near to the Phoenix park export depot and it will assist part of the wet season growing program for Riveren and Inverway as well as help to provide better market timing options for some of Hancock Beef's Kimberley cattle stations," she said.

Colliers International's national director of rural and agribusiness, Rawdon Briggs was the listing agent for Aroona Station.

The property market for large scale horticultural enterprises in the Sunraysia region has shifted dramatically over recent years, according to Herron Todd White’s latest report.

The property valuation firm says that in the period from 2007 to 2014, properties would be advertised extensively and selling periods would often extend over 12 months.

In the past year or so, there have been numerous examples of owners of large properties receiving unsolicited approaches from corporate buyers (or their brokers) wishing to buy their property.

“We are regularly being asked by owners of these properties for advice on what they should do.

Additionally we are consistently receiving requests from agents for help in identifying the ownership of or suitable properties which may fit their investment strategies,” the report stated.

Corporate buyers appear most motivated to buy properties which have scope to complete further development, reinforcing their belief that the current good returns from industries such as table grapes, citrus and almonds will be maintained for some time to come.

“As we reported in the February edition there were three sales of substantial table grape enterprises in the latter half of 2016, with the buyers being two separate international investment funds and a recently listed Australian agribusiness company.

The strong demand appears to have continued into the early part of 2017, noting that we are aware of negotiations for the purchase of a number of properties,” the report stated.

There are also currently a number of companies either overtly or covertly scoping out suitable properties to develop large scale, flat plate solar farms.

It is not clear at this stage whether any of these proponents will end up buying and developing the properties for this use, however there appears to be some current momentum for this to happen.

The first of such proponents, Overland Sun Farming, recently launched its $500 million plans to build three large scale solar farms at Yatpool, Iraak and Wemen (all south of Mildura) commencing in June 2017.

It is expected that the total combined output will be 320 megawatts which is enough to power all households in Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

Whilst previous proposed projects have failed to materialise in the region the current operators reportedly have the funding and contractual arrangements in place to ensure these projects will be built and operational by early 2018.

Whilst traditionally sale activity in the cropping and pastoral sectors in the December to February time frame is generally low Herron Todd White notes that there has been some good sales activity.

Thurla Farms at Redcliff (above) has been listed for sale.

The weather patterns over the past four weeks have been breaking records for all the wrong reasons, according to Herron Todd White’s latest report.

The property valuation firm says that the dry and hot conditions have been felt right across southern Queensland.

In far western Queensland, Thargomindah broke the hottest day record for February at 47 degrees whilst it was also the hottest day and number of consecutive days reaching over 40 degrees on the Border River and Darling Downs areas.

“What the present weather conditions are doing we believe is stalling some of the renewed market confidence,” the report commented.

Growers and cattle producers are very cautious on the current weather outlook especially within the less traditionally secure rainfall areas but also because of the recent extended dry seasonal conditions.

The exceptional heat has dried off pastures, reduced surface water for stock needs and impacted summer crops, especially down grading or loss of mung bean crops.

Every shire west of the Great Divide in southern Queensland is drought declared with many being so since 2013 (fourth year).

Obviously seasons have always been a major deciding factor on profitability for the majority of agriculture enterprises.

Despite dry seasonal conditions being not necessarily uncommon, the extended dry periods and less than ideal long range forecasts may be of concern for producers wanting to expand but budgeting on improvement in the season which hasn’t eventuated.

What is the likelihood of stacking together exceptional cattle prices and wet seasonal conditions anyhow?

If anything, the present dry conditions are giving over anxious purchasers a reality check and possibly softening the aggressive purchasing by some parties as observed.

One of the drivers in the property market for both cropping and grazing country is landholders looking to acquire adjoining or near neighbouring properties.

“We are seeing premiums between 10% and 25% paid where strong competition exists. We have seen this trend occur within the Inner Downs, Goondiwindi, Condamine and Taroom market areas,” the report stated.

Subject to the potential demand for a neighbouring property some landholders are trying to negotiate a deal prior to being listed on the market.

However in markets primarily driven purely by local investors it can be difficult to determine the actual premium for those seeking economies of scale although there is evidence of a disconnect in comparison to other neighbouring areas.

The overall market has been slow for the beginning of 2017, however many properties previously listed for extended periods are now either generating increased buyer interest or are under contract.

For the southern part of Queensland there has been an increase in sale rates that has continued since 2014.

For 2016 the liquidity of the market has levelled despite data-set lagging indicating the decline.

In addition the median sales price has also firmed as evident in the sales graph below.

A 481 hectare cropping land at Lot 46 Tenomby, Goondiwindi (above) has been listed for $980,000.

Similarly the Tolmah Homestead at Condamine has been listed for $750,000.

The Ashton family have sold Markdale, the NSW country farm with unrivalled pioneering polo history.

The 2250 hectare Binda farm has been held by three generations of Ashton's, most recently by company director Geoff Ashton and high society interior decorator wife Mary.

The 1920s house with extensions by the acclaimed Professor Lesie Wilkinson is set in an Edna Walling-designed garden.

A polo-player weathervane tops the seven bedroom homestead to symbolise the family's long association with the sport.

The undisclosed price sale was negotiated by Richard Royle Director of Colliers International Rural & Agribusiness.  

A family with four boys from Sydney bought the home, continuing that theme.

The father of four polo playing sons, James Ashton, who put Australia on the world polo map, bought the original holding, followed by his son, Geoff snr.

In 1984, Geoff jnr took over the Southern Tablelands property that derives wool production and guesthouse income from its two original stone cottages and the shearers quarters.

Markdale's garden is acknowledged as one of the great country gardens of Australia, rejuvenated in recent years, featuring include a wisteria and rose pergola, several sculptures and lake with its Chinese bridge.

Only once, at Markdale, did the two Australian icons combine their talents, Professor Wilkinson extensions and gardens by Edna Walling

The guestbook shows just how generously the Ashtons have entertained their family and friends there since 1921.

Geoff and Mary have thought about selling it on and off for almost the past two decades, and would love for a buyer to emerge who has a passion for the property, set about two and a half hours drive from Sydney.

James Ashton started as the copy boy on the Hay newspaper before owning it, and in business become chairman of MLC and The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney.

He had four sons Jim, Robert, Geoff and Phil, who began playing polo against his wishes, but persuaded by his wife ‘that those who play together, stay together’ he let them continue.

In the 1930’s, the brothers shipped their horses to England, the United States and India to compete against top international teams, winning numerous tournaments, including England’s Hurlingham Championship and the Indian Empire Shield, and an invincible team in Australia retiring unbeaten in 1938.

The birthplace of the modern Australian merino sheep is for sale, with the Wanganella, Peppin­ella and Boonoke sheep stations in southern NSW being offered at $330 million.

It is a Riverina pastoral ­empire that dates back to the 1880s under the FSF Falkiner group stewardship.

Confirmation came in The Australian that it has been quietly put on the market by its five owners lead by stockbroker Colin Bell.

The $330 million price secures a portfolio of 18 farms covering 226,000ha centred around ­Deniliquin, Hay and Coonamble 

Bell said ­Chinese companies were among prospective buyers.

He said the holdings were being sold because all its five part-owners — Bell and his two brothers Andrew and Lewis Bell from the Bell Financial group, Bell managing director Alastair Provan and US hedge fund manager Ray Dalio — were older than 70.

“We are selling all of the company or a share of it, but the properties will not be split up and sold separately,” Bell said.

“We are being selective about who we approach — they have to be high-value individuals or companies both here or overseas with an interest in Australian agriculture — and what we are selling here is a profitable business, not just individual farms.”

AFA released its financial results last week, showing the group had sales of $55m in 2015-16 and recorded a pre-tax profit of $25m.

Mr Bell said the group as a whole produced wool, cattle, sheep, stud rams, cotton, rice, cereal and pulse crops.

The paper reported it includes 11,000ha of high-value ­irrigated land used for rice and cotton, 60,000 megalitres of water entitlements from the Murrumbidgee and Murray river systems, 100,000 merino wool sheep and the homestead on Boonoke.

There is a covenant that stops the historic Wanganella and Boonoke sheep stations being sold separately or their sheep studs being ­dispersed.

Bell said it would take more than 50 years to put ­together a conglomerate of such quality as AFA’s holdings, with the combined business offering economies that have seen it make a profit 13 years out of the past 16.

“This is so different from Kidman with just its cattle,” Mr Bell said. “We don’t have to sell, and we are in no rush to sell; we will only be selling it as a (combined) business — these are all scale and ­trophy properties.”

Bucca, a 123ha farm in the Bundaberg region, has been purchased by an Asian based buyer for $2 million with future plans to convert the property from sugarcane to macadamia production.

Trenton Hindman, at Colliers International, marketed the property for Bucca Investments Pty Ltd who have owned it since 2007.

“This sale showcases a perfect mix of foreign capital investment, Australian horticultural expertise and management, and ultimately the export of the popular macadamia nut,” said Mr Hindman.

“There is an interesting trend currently occurring in the Bundaberg region where we are seeing a change of land use from sugarcane to tree crops.”  

Located at 123 Mahoneys Road in Bucca, this freehold irrigation property consists of five titles of irrigated grey loam river flats.

Pastoral firm Hewitt Cattle Australia has made its largest cattle station purchase to date with two acquisitions in the Northern Territory for about $50 million.

Hewitt Cattle will take two central Australian pastoral assets, Ambalindum Station and Numery Station, about 140 kilometres east of Alice Springs, covering 650,000 hectares with an estimated carrying capacity of 20,000 head of cattle, reported the Australian Financial Review.

Late in 2015, Hewitt Cattle attracted the Foreign Investment Review Board’s scrutiny for its purchase of three cattle properties from Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) in Queensland. The sale got the regulator’s attention because Hewitt Cattle is partially owned by Canada's biggest pension funds, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. 

Hewitt Cattle Australia chief executive Mick Hewitt confirmed the latest deals to AFR and was cited as saying, "this acquisition means we are well-positioned to access multiple markets throughout Australia, including both live export and processing. In particular, we are drawn to the prospects of accessing the burgeoning southern Australian live export trade to China”. 

In addition to the properties, the deal includes about 15,000 head of cattle as well as several assets from the property vendor, Tim and Emily Edmunds' Hale River Pastoral Company.

These assets include extensive livestock freight assets, staff accommodation and administrative headquarters located in Alice Springs, and a small pastoral asset used as a spelling complex for livestock transitioning to South Australian markets.

"In our view, Ambalindum is one of central Australia's iconic assets and will ultimately act as a cornerstone breeding operation for HCA," Hewitt said.

"The property is highly regarded within the region, as is the quality of its herd."

Hewitt said the property will supply high quality stock back to the company's eastern seaboard assets and markets. The deal will also bring the company's total holdings to more than 1 million hectares and 75,000 head of cattle.

The Canadian fund backing the HCA, PSP, manages $115 billion in assets and seeks investment returns for the pension plans of the Canadian Public Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force.

Crowd-funder DomaCom has 90 retail investors now holding a stake in a property in Victoria’s prime Western Districts pastoral land.

The 150-hectare property, Doyles is just outside Casterton near the South Australian border.

It is heartland prime beef cattle region with 11 paddocks of rolling high country fronting Lower Coleraine Road.

Prior to the contract to purchase the property the fund secured a local operator to be the tenant.

DomaCom’s head of property Jason Bennett said the purchased delivered a packaged opportunity to investors to enable them to invest into the rural sector.

"It is expected that investors will receive an estimated combined income and capital return of 10% per annum on their investment, based on historic returns, which is a significant improvement on bank interest," he said.

"More importantly they will have the ability to participate in the strong capital growth currently being experienced in the rural sector."

DomaCom CEO Arthur Naoumidis says the group is “enormously proud” to sign off on its first agriculture crowdfunding project, which has taken about two months to bed down.

“It’s our understanding that this is the first crowdfunding project for agriculture assets anywhere in the world.

"We knew from the Kidman bid that there was a thirst by ‘mum-and-dad’ investors to acquire agriculture assets, and we have been looking at other properties for quite some time.

"We have already more investors on our books looking to invest in this asset class, so we are confident that the Doyles deal is just the first of many.”

Elders’ Hamilton-based David Peardon, who handled the sale, said the first successful crowdfunding exercise to allow retail investors to collectively acquire an agriculture asset was an “exciting development” for the industry.

You can download an eBook from DomaCom on new smart ways to invest in agriculture, here.

Ray White will complete its first ever horse sale with an event on the mid north coast of New South Wales this weekend.

Around 400 horse enthusiasts are expected to attend the three-day Ray White EPIC Horse Sale event at Kempsey Showground to bid on the 80 registered stock and quarter horses.

There will be 38 mares, 40 geldings and two stallions for sale at the event which commences on Friday with a campdraft and concludes on Sunday with the auction.

The move marks the firm’s latest diversification move after prior expansions into commercial real estate, hotel sales, livestock, rural property and marine transactions.

Chairman of Ray White rural and livestock, Paul White, says the event is a natural evolution for their growing rural and livestock network of agencies across Australia.

“Horses have long been important for stock management in Australia, and this sale is a fitting evolution for our rural sales activities,” White said.

“[Event organiser, Ray White Rural Kempsey principal] Mark Haywood has shown a great deal of initiative to bring the EPIC horse sale to life. We have no doubt it will be a huge local success.”

Pre-works commence Saturday 18 March at 1pm and the horse sale will run from 10am Sunday 19 March.

There is currently good inquiry for larger scale irrigation properties for investment entities looking at assets in excess of $10 million in Echuca, according to Herron Todd White’s latest report.

The property valuation firm says that this demand has been underpinned by the strong 2016 seasonal conditions and the good water resource position and reduced allocation water markets.

It will be interesting to see how the market responds coming out of the 2016/17 season with significantly improved balance sheets relative to 2015/16 despite disappointing grain prices.

Agents report that because of the reduced listings in south west Victoria through the latter part of 2016, the rural property market for 2017 commenced with less than usual stock of property put to the market and this has contributed to a slower than usual kick off for 2017.

There is no denying confidence continues at an all time high, particularly for beef and sheep producers.

Even the dairy industry is continuing to show signs of improving which should translate to the property market. Watch this space.

The limited market activity has been primarily either farmers over the fence expanding and investors seeking scale and quality.

A 23 acre land at 208 Anderson Road, Echuca (above) has been listed for sale. It last sold for $92,000 in 1993.

Similarly a mixed farming land at 163 Poulson Road, Rushworth has been listed for $205,000, having last traded for $70,000 in 1985.

The months of December and January are generally quiet months in South West Western Australia's rural property market with many taking holidays and taking stock post harvest, according to Herron Todd White’s latest report.

The property valuation firm says that their research of Landgate records indicates 15 rural properties over 40 hectares settled in December 2016 and 13 properties over 40 hectares settled in January 2017.

Compared to last year’s 97 properties over 40 hectares in December 2015 and 82 properties over 40 hectares in January 2016 this is significantly down.

“We note that these settlements are likely to be from sales in the previous six to 12 months however are considered to give an indication of market activity.

We also note that the overall sale prices are also down with only five sales over the $1 million mark compared to 53 sales for the same two month period last year,” the report stated.

This is likely to be a result of a number of factors including severe frost events resulting in down grading of yield and quality estimates which were likely to have postponed purchasing decisions and also supply issues with a number of the larger landholdings being purchased last year and a number of above average years reversing some producers’ decisions to exit the industry.

“As we now know it has been reported that Western Australia has just had a record harvest on the back of an above average harvest and as a result market activity is likely to increase in line with an increase in liquidity throughout many regions,” the report stated.

Recent rainfall events across many wheatbelt areas have resulted in flooding but also provided some soil moisture with a number of farmers already working their land ready for seeding.

Overall confidence remains high in many districts and we are likely to see more sales activity as a result which given the supply issues in some areas could result in an increase in land values.