Wheat king selling $30m farm in NSW's Western Plains
Australia’s biggest wheat farmer, Ron Greentree, has put Muttama Station, a 12,500 hectare cropping and grazing property west of Coonamble in the NSW Western Plains, up for sale after acquiring full ownership of it from former business partner Ken Harris in December.
The pair owned Muttama Station as part of their Greentree Farming partnership. They put it up for sale in November 2017 as part of plans to dissolve their business partnership and split up the remaining assets.
Title deeds show Mr Greentree acquired full ownership of the property last year, when his private company Prime Grain acquired the other half held by Limthono Pty Ltd, the company of his business partner.
It was transferred for a zero amount. At the time it had an unimproved valuation of $16.3 million.
According to Rural Bank’s 2020 Australian Farmland Values Report, the median selling price of farmland in Coonamble in 2019 was $2543 a hectare. Based on this figure, Muttama Station could be worth in excess of $31 million.
It was put up for sale last week and is being marketed by Alexander Bailey and Paul Kelly of Moree Real Estate. The agents did not respond to a request for comment.
Around 10,600 ha of Muttama Station is arable, with the remaining country suitable for grazing. It’s currently planted to a full winter crop.
Alongside extensive water infrastructure, Muttama Station includes a 5000-head capacity feedlot, 16 silos, two grain sheds, two cattle yards, a four-bedroom homestead and three cottages. There’s also a 1000-metre airstrip.
Elders Dubbo agent Richard Gemmell noted as part of the 2020 Rural Bank Farmland report that in most regions throughout the Central and Central West of NSW near or record prices were achieved throughout 2019.
“The high value at which transactions occurred was the result of long-term investor confidence off the back of strong commodity prices, a shortage of listings and low interest rates, indicating many were prepared to look past the dry conditions,” he said.
The offering of Muttama Station comes six years after Mr Greentree and Mr Harris put their 47,500ha Milton Downs and Boolcarrol aggregation at Bellata, near Moree, on the market. Available as either one parcel or as separate lots, it was estimated to be worth up to $200 million.
In 2016, a 10,000ha portion of this aggregation sold to US giant investment fund TIAA’s Westchester for about $50 million.
No other sales relating to the remaining portion of Milton Downs and Boolcarrol have been reported.
The Central West, which includes the major regional centres of Dubbo, Parkes and Forbes, provides more than a quarter of NSW’s wheat, 13 per cent of its beef, and a fifth of its wool and sheep meat.
