Cattle baron Sterling Buntine puts $20m central Qld run up for grabs

The decision to sell the aggregation is part of a consolidation of Buntine’s holdings, with the property expected to fetch more than $20 million.

The aggregation is being handled by JLL Agribusiness’ Geoff Warriner and Chris Holgar and Rural Property Livestock’s Walter Cooper. It offers a turn-key breeding, backgrounding, and fattening operation across various land and soil types, the agencies said. It has secure water access through dams and natural waterways connected to the Diamantina River and Williams Creek systems.

Infrastructure across the property includes three sets of cattle yards with a capacity for 1000 to 1500 head, as well two homestead complexes at Tulmur and Tranby. The property is close to the Winton township and the Landsborough Highway.

“This region is highly regarded for its capacity to support cattle, sheep meat and wool production,” said JLL’s Holgar.

“The aggregation features open Mitchell and Flinders grass downs to the east, transitioning into Gidyea woodlands and undulating hills, before giving way to the Diamantina River channels to the west, which support healthy stands of blue bush, buffel grass and a variety of seasonal pastures.”

Buntine’s is a big name in northern Australia’s livestock industry, with the cattle man striking a series of major deals for a portfolio that runs from Kununurra in Western Australia’s Kimberley region across the Northern Territory to central Queensland.

His father Noel Buntine, after whom the Buntine Highway in northern Australia is named, created a transport and pastoral empire in the north, introducing the road train style of truck transport hauling livestock across long distances.

Nine years ago, Sterling Buntine was part of a consortium of four major family graziers bidding against Gina Rinehart for Australia’s largest landholder, S. Kidman & Co.

While the tilt for Kidman was unsuccessful, Buntine remains a busy buyer and seller of major cattle stations. In recent years, he has added acquisitions from Consolidated Pastoral’s portfolio to the family holdings which also include the 400,000-hectare Alroy Downs Station at Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Two years ago, Buntine took over a small plantation in Kununurra from failed sandalwood grower Quintis.

A number of large cattle stations and grazing properties have hit the market this month across the country, including the Mt Hannibal and Kerrawarra properties, which run over nearly 1900 hectares at the gateway to NSW’s Southern Highlands,

Two hours’ drive from Sydney, and 26 kilometres from Marulan, the properties are suited to both sheep and beef farming. Inglis Rural Property’s Sam Triggs, Liam Griffiths and Hamish Cooke are handling the propoerties which could fetch as much as $20 million.