Victoria's Petabern dairies tipped to fetch $12 million
One of Victoria’s most productive dairy operations, Petabern Dairies, near Undera in the Goulburn Valley, has been listed for sale with market expectations that it will sell for more than $12 million.
The dairies, a 608-hectare aggregation of three properties near each other, are being sold by dairy farmers Peter and Bernadette Quinn. The couple bought the original holding in 1989, when it was only 121 hectares, and supply milk to New Zealand co-op Fonterra.
Petabern includes a 360-hectare dairy farm with a 1000-cow undercover feed shed, a 203-hectare fodder farm and a 45-hectare dryland farm used for cropping and hay production.
The properties are being marketed by CBRE’s James Beer, Duncan McCulloch and Danny Thomas.
“With regard to the dairy sector in Victoria, in my opinion there is a renewed sense of optimism after some challenging years and investor interest for large-scale, high-quality holdings such as Petabern Dairies is increasing,” Mr Beer said.
He added that Petabern Dairies represented excellent value for money and would generate strong buyer interest from domestic and international investors.
“The dairies currently milk approximately 950 cows and produce over 7 million litres of milk annually, making it one of Australia’s most productive dairy farms,” Mr Beer said.
Petabern Dairies is close to several key processing facilities and could be expanded to milk 1250 cows with additional investment.
CBRE is also selling the Frances Farm Portfolio – 2800 hectares of irrigated cropping and grazing land in Victoria’s western Wimmera area and the south-east of South Australia – on behalf of Camperdown Dairy International with price hopes also about $12 million.
The portfolio comprises three farms – Frances, Minimay and Bool Lagoon. Frances, the largest at 1550 hectares, has historically been used for horticulture, fat lamb production and cropping.
“We expect the Frances Farm Portfolio to generate strong interest from both locals and corporates looking to acquire quality agricultural land, given the current shortage of stock on the market,” Mr McCulloch said.
