Dray family seeking $30m for Proserpine aggregation
Queensland’s Dray family has joined their cousins, the Fausts, and a growing number of multi-generational farming families seeking an exit from the agricultural sector.
For nearly 100 years the Drays have farmed in Proserpine, in northern Queensland, starting when the hard-working Edward Dray bought his first farm in 1925 armed with £25 from a bank loan.
Since then and through three generations, the Dray family has become a household name in the Whitsunday region, with their sugar cane and beef production aggregation now spanning 8825 hectares and 36 titles.
However, with Dray elders recently passing away and a growing number of descendants laying claim to the farming legacy, the family has decided to sell after three generations of ownership and share the property spoils.
Their decision to sell-up follows their cousins, the Fausts deciding in March this year to sell their own 3134-hectare beef and cane aggregation in Proserpine, ending a more than 100-year connection to the farming sector.
Also selling up their holdings is the Ward family, which has farmed Gilgal, Winona and O’Connor in the Cootamundra region of NSW since 1865.
Another century-old farming family, the Yuans, are selling one of the Gold Coast hinterland’s best-known farms, Bonnie Doon in the Numinbah Valley. It was passed in at auction for $3.5 million at the start of August, but remains up for sale.
Price expectations are understood to be about $30 million for the Dray family aggregation, which is being offered on a ‘walk in walk out’ basis.
It offers 1248 hectares of arable land currently producing sugar cane and a further 500 hectares of grazing land suitable for conversion to sugar cane or horticultural production.
The improved pastures are presently used to finish the progeny of the 1000 breeders run on the aggregation.
Also included are 4488 megalitres of water licenses plus six unregulated irrigation bores, numerous dwellings and an extensive portfolio of plant and equipment.
The sale of the Dray aggregation is being handled by Tom Russo and Rob Murolo of Elders Real Estate.
Mr Murolo said he expected that large private operators, corporate farmers and investment funds would participate in the expression of interest process, together with numerous established Proserpine farmers.
“The substantial water portfolio, coupled with the Dray family’s investment in water infrastructure and sustainable farming initiatives, will be a feature of particular interest to many investors”, Mr Russo said.
