Newcastle eye surgeon buys beef farm owned by one family for 170 years
Newcastle eye surgeon Peter Davies has expanded his rural property portfolio, paying $13 million for grazing property Riamukka, near Nowendoc in NSW’s New England region, that had been held by seven generations of the Laurie family for 170 years.
Dr Davies established Hunter Eye Surgeons in the Hunter Valley in 2006 and opened the Hunter Eye Hospital in 2009.
His ophthalmologist practice is one of the largest in the region, and he was given the keys to the City of Newcastle in 2017 in recognition of the work of the Newcastle Eye Hospital Foundation.
In late 2020, “when most of life’s activities seemed to be cancelled because of COVID”, Dr Davies, who has a pilot’s licence, and wife Hillary took to the air searching for the “perfect property”.
This they found in Kilcowera Station near Thargomindah in the Queensland outback, which they bought for $3.5 million from long-time owners Greg and Toni Sherwin.
They set up Vision Pastoral Company to operate Kilcowera as a beef, carbon and farm-stay business.
Riamukka, a 1030-hectare property well suited as a breeding or fattening block, complements the Davies’ beef-producing activities at Kilcowera, where they cross Wagyu bulls with Black Angus cows to produce “F1 cross” calves that are prized for their soft marbled meat. (Marbling refers to the fat streaks in a cut of meat that enhances the flavour).
Riamukka was put up for sale in June by 29-year-old seventh-generation owner Alex Laurie, who decided to downsize to a smaller farm.
It was a difficult decision to sell, prompted partly by beef prices halving in a year, Mr Laurie told ABC at the time.
The farm, at 5304 Brakendale Road, about 12 km north of Nowendoc, was acquired in 1852 by brothers Joseph and Thomas Laurie from the Australian Agriculture Company (now ASX-listed beef giant AACo) after they made their fortune in the Victorian gold rush.
Over generations, the family developed it into a first-class breeding and fattening property. It features good access to water: it fronts the Nowendoc River and three creeks, and has 18 dams, numerous springs and is in a reliable rainfall area.
When Raimukka went to auction in July, its managers had been running 250 cows and calves on the property and trading 1200 cattle to feedlots and into the supermarket trade. Mr Laurie said the property could carry 700 cows and calves comfortably.
Despite price expectations above $15 million, Riamukka was passed in on a vendor bid of $14 million.
It then sold under negotiation for $13 million to the Davies family, the reduced price reflecting the impact of lower beef prices, drier conditions and higher interest rates on farmland values.
Davidson Cameron and Co selling agent Simon Burke negotiated the sale.
