Gulf Coast aggregation makes circa $380m

Brahman cattle on Gulf Coast Agricultural’s property within the Gulf of Carpentaria

 

TWO of New South Wales’ greatest cotton growers, Peter and Jane Harris, have paid a rumoured $380 million for a large aggregation of grazing nation in Queensland’s Gulf Nation, together with 70,000 to 80,000 Brahman cattle.

The sale of Mark Menegazzo’s Gulf Coast Agricultural Co property ranks as the most important agricultural land sale in Queensland this 12 months.

It comes simply 24 hours after Beef Central revealed its annual abstract of defining gross sales for 2022 yesterday.

Mr Menegazzo is the son of the late multi-millionaire Queensland cattle baron Peter Menegazzo, who, collectively together with his spouse Angela, died in a airplane crash in 2005.

In 2016 Mark Menegazzo parted methods together with his brothers Brendan and David, and sister Debra, who proceed to regulate Stanbroke Beef, representing the rest of the grazing property constructed up by their late father, together with the 2007 takeover of AMP’s Stanbroke Pastoral Co.

Gulf Coast Agricultural operates 4 massive breeding and backgrounding grazing properties spanning 1,0701sq km within the Gulf area, with capability to run about 100,000 head in regular years.

Through their firm Budvalt Pty Ltd, Peter and Jane Harris function a big irrigated cropping and cotton enterprise primarily based out of Miralwyn Cotton at Carinda, on the junction of the Barwon and Macquarie Rivers in north-western NSW.

Additionally they personal Brewon Station and the Glen Acre Aggregation (comprising 4 farms) at Walgett, Rumleigh Station at Brewarrina, Clyde Cotton at Bourke, Moomin Station at Moree, in addition to a blended grazing operation close to Dirranbandi in southern Queensland.

It’s understood Peter and Jane Harris have been launched to employees as the brand new homeowners of the Gulf Coast Agriculture Co final weekend, adopted by an announcement to suppliers (concerned with the corporate) on Monday.

The walk-in walk-out deal included the Brahman cattle herd, intensive plant and tools, in addition to a six-seater Cessna Quotation jet plane.

Given their background as irrigated farmers, hypothesis means that the brand new homeowners could discover farming potential on the Gulf Coast Agricultural property, in addition to intensive grazing. There was an explosion in curiosity in farming alongside Queensland’s Gulf river methods over the previous two years, with a area day in Julia Creek late final 12 months attracting greater than 250 contributors.

Together with different members of his household, Mark Menegazzo maintains a really low profile and is little recognized in business circles.

In keeping with its web site, Gulf Coast Agricultural strives to provide the highest quality Brahman cattle – bred and tailored for the tropical local weather – on a big scale with enhanced genetic choice, elevated efficiency on fertility, weight features and temperament, and lowered mortalities.

Gulf Coast Agricultural Co

Gulf Coast Agricultural Co was established in 2017, with its main holdings being Van Rook Station (bought in 1991) after which expanded with the neighbouring properties Inkerman Station, Dorunda and Stirling-Lotus Vale.

All 4 are steeped in historical past courting again to the Eighties, and have retained the stations’ authentic cattle manufacturers and names.

The contiguous stations span multiple million hectares, together with greater than 90km of pristine shoreline from the mouth of the Gilbert River extending north to the mouth of the Nassau River on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

They comprise:

  • 590,500ha Van Rook Station, established in 1883, is likely one of the largest cattle stations in Queensland. Positioned northeast of Normanton on the Gilbert and Staaten Rivers, it’s the base for many of Gulf Coast Agricultural’s employees and breeding cattle, and might run round 61,700 head. That means ‘of smoke’, Van Rook is one among a number of stations and landmarks within the area bearing Dutch names – Staaten River and Nassau River are others – which date again to coastal exploration by Willem Janszoon within the Duyfken in 1606.
  • 125,000ha Stirling Lotus Vale Station, established in 1883, was initially Van Rook’s bullock block, separated from the principle station by the Gilbert River. In 1991, it was annexed off and aggregated with the a lot smaller Lotus Vale Station (named after its lagoon considerable with lotus lillies) and have become often called Stirling Lotus Vale. The holding has a carrying capability of 19,600 head and fattens the corporate’s sale steers, along with working the Brahman Stud.
  • 280,000ha Inkerman Station – the second largest and most distant of the 4 stations. Established in 1899, it includes Inkerman, Galbraith, Waterloo and Wynola. The property is bordered by water on three sides – the Nassau River to the north, the Staaten River to the south and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the west. It runs between 10,000 and 12,200 breeder cows.
  • 110,010ha Dorunda Station was established in 1885 and is called after the steamer S.S. Dorunda – the primary vessel to hold beef from Queensland to Nice Britain in 1881. It’s the smallest of the 4 properties and runs between 2500 and 3000 breeders. Described as a hidden oasis, the property boasts considerable pristine pure waters, the most important of which is a 20km lengthy everlasting freshwater lake fed by quite a few waterfalls within the moist season.

Property business contacts informed Beef Central that present demand for large-scale Gulf grazing land was very sturdy, and the market had ‘good depth’ when it comes to the customer pool.

A number of massive property businesses mentioned they weren’t related with the deal, making it unclear whether or not there was any company involvement, or was negotiated privately.