09 Jun Australian farming by numbers

By Ian Robinson

Let us take stock on just how big agricultural business in Australia at the farm gate level.   It is not just a checkerboard of settler’s blocks any more, it is now a deep, complex and capital-intensive industry that is layered with international and domestic corporates, investor syndications, and intergenerational farming families.

With the recent boom in agricultural asset prices, clients with net assets north of $100m is not as uncommon as you may think.  Lucky country indeed….

The following lists will be provided to garner the appreciation of what is occurring within Australia’s vast interior (Agjournal April 2021):

• 20 of Australia’s biggest farmland deals in the past 5 years.
• Top 10 Investors by $$ value
• Top 10 by size

 

Biggest Farmland Deals over the past 5 years

• Amount: $860m

Property:     Almond orchards, Robinvale VIC (2020)

Seller:           Olam Orchards

Buyer:          PSP Investments

Deal:           12,000ha almonds and 90,000 megs HS water

 

• Amount: $854m

Property:     Webster Limited

Seller:           Webster Limited

Buyer:          PSP Investments

Deal:           340,000ha & 153,000 megs

 

• Amount: $600m (for sale)

Property:     Lawson Grains

Seller:           Macquarie Agriculture

Buyer:          to be determined

Deal:           105,000ha cropping in NSW & WA

 

• Amount: $600m (for sale)

Property:     Auscott Limited

Seller:           JG Boswell Company

Buyer:          to be determined

Deal:           22,000ha irrigation, 143,000 megs, 5 cotton gins

 

• Amount: $500m

Property:     Consolidated Pastoral Company assets (2020)

Seller:           Consolidated Pastoral Company

Buyer:          Guy Hands

Deal:           3.2million ha in NT & QLD, 300,000 cattle & feedlot in Indonesia

 

• Amount: $400m

Property:     North Australian Pastoral Company (80%) 2016

Seller:           Foster Family and MP Evans

Buyer:          QIC

Deal:           5.8m ha and 178,000 cattle

 

• Amount: $386.5m

Property:     S Kidman & Co

Seller:           Descendants of Sir Sidney Kidman

Buyer:          Outback Beef (Gina Rinehart and Shanghai CRED)

Deal:           17 Pastoral leases, 155,000 cattle and a feedlot

 

• Amount: $370m

Property:     Proten chicken farms (2018)

Seller:           ProTen Limited

Buyer:          ROC Partners – First State Super

Deal:           details not provided

 

• Amount: $329.6m (for sale)

Property:     Vitalharvest (2021)

Seller:           Vitalharvest Freehold Trust

Buyer:          to be determined

Deal:           citrus, berry farms leased to Costa Group

 

• Amount: $325m

Property:     BFB Farms (2019)

Seller:           Proterra Investment Partners

Buyer:          PSP Investments

Deal:           Cropping, logistics, 48,700ha and 332,000t storage

 

• Amount: $300m

Property:     Hassad Australia Properties (2018)

Seller:           Hassad Australia

Buyer:          Macquarie Agriculture

Deal:           9 farms covering 100,000ha

 

• Amount: $300m

Property:     Midkin Aggregation, Moree NSW (2019)

Seller:           JG Boswell Company – Auscott Limited

Buyer:          PSP Investments

Deal:           17,300ha & 53,600 megs and cotton ginning facilities

 

• Amount: $300m (for sale)

Property:     Hancock Agriculture / Kidman & Co Stations

Seller:           Hancock Agriculture / S Kidman & Co

Buyer:          to be determined

Deal:           7 cattle stations 1.88m ha in NT & WA and

 

• Amount: $280m

Property:     Van Diemen’s Land Dairy (2016)

Seller:           Van Diemen’s Land Company

Buyer:          Moon Lake Investments (China)

Deal:           7,000ha and 17,890 dairy cows

 

• Amount: $200m

Property:     Cubbie Station (49% stake) QLD (2019)

Seller:           Cubbie Agriculture (China)

Buyer:          Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets

Deal:           not provided

 

• Amount: $185m

Property:     Sustainable Agriculture Fund (2018)

Seller:           Sustainable Agriculture Fund

Buyer:          Various Investors

Deal:           not provided

 

• Amount: $180m

Property:     Jasper Farms (2018)

Seller:           Delroy Family

Buyer:          Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Deal:           not provided

 

• Amount: $148m

Property:     Rocklands & Tanbar Stations, QLD (2016)

Seller:           Western Grazing

Buyer:          Macquarie Agriculture – Paraway Pastoral Company

Deal:           not provided

 

• Amount: $140m

Property:     Wyadra & Cowl Cowl Stations, NSW (2020)

Seller:           Harvard University Endowment Fund

Buyer:          Hancock Agricultural Investment Group (US)

Deal:           not provided

 

• Amount: $135m

Property:     Argyle Downs, Newry & Auvergne Stations, WA & NT (2019)

Seller:           Consolidated Pastoral Company

Buyer:          Clean Agriculture and International Tourism (Vietnam)

Deal:           not provided

 

 

Top 10 Investors by Value

• Amount: $4,000,000,000

Investor:       PSP Investments

 

• Amount: $3,000,000,000 +

Investor:       Macquarie Agriculture

 

• Amount: $1,800,000,000 +

Investor:       TIAA – CREF

 

• Amount: $1,100,000,000

Investor:       Rural Funds Group

 

• Amount: $1,000,000,000 +

Investor:       Hancock Agricultural Investment Group

 

• Amount: $1,000,000,000 +

Investor:       GoFarm

 

• Amount: $1,000,000,000

Investor:       CK Life Sciences

 

• Amount: $1,000,000,000

Investor:       Gina Rinehart Hancock Prospecting / Outback Beef

 

• Amount: $810,600,000

Investor:       AACo

 

• Amount: $800,000,000

Investor:       North Australian Pastoral Company

 

 

Top 10 by Size

• Size: 10,000,000ha

Investor:       Gina Rinehart

 

• Size: 6,400,000ha

Investor:       AACo

 

• Size: 6,150,000ha

Investor:       Jumbuck Pastoral Company

 

• Size: 6,100,000ha

Investor:       North Australian Pastoral Company

 

• Size: 5,000,000ha+

Investor:       Crown Point Pastoral

 

• Size: 4,700,000ha

Investor:       Macquarie Agriculture

 

• Size: 4,650,000ha

Investor:       Williams Cattle Company

 

• Size: 3,360,000ha

Investor:       MDH Pty Ltd

 

• Size: 3,200,000ha

Investor:       Consolidated Pastoral Company

 

• Size: 3,000,000ha

Investor:       Brook Family