Lime Creek sale highlights strong corporate and family farming sector interest in well-developed properties

A Melbourne family has acquired the 711ha Lime Creek farm in Victoria’s south-west after it was listed for sale for the first time in almost 100 years.

The highly productive mixed farming property near Hexham was marketed through CBRE Agribusiness’ David Goodfellow, Matt Childs and Shane McIntyre on behalf of the Skermer family.

Mr Goodfellow said the Expressions of Interest campaign had generated significant buyer interest and a sale price in line with initial expectations.

“Buyer demand is still very strong for well-developed properties and interest is evident from both the corporate and family farming sectors,” Mr Goodfellow said.

“In the case of Lime Creek, the property’s size, scale and location were major drawcards, with the Western Districts recognised as Victoria's premium cropping and livestock region given it’s reliable rainfall.”

A hallmark of the farm is 626ha of row cropping land, of which 500ha was developed to raised-bed formations about five years ago.

It is currently planted to winter row crops, with 253ha of canola, 194ha of wheat and 179ha of faba beans, in what is shaping up to be a promising season.

While the farm has predominantly been used for cropping since its development, with the capacity for perennial pastures, Mr Childs said Lime Creek could also support grazing and livestock production with a large shearing shed and undercover sheep yards on site, plus a pressurized water reticulation system delivering reliable water supply to troughs in the paddocks.

If Lime Creek was to be only used for livestock grazing it is estimated to have a carrying capacity about 12,800 DSE.

In terms of existing improvements, the property includes a five-bedroom brick veneer home with frontages to Lime Creek, as well as machinery sheds, workshops, fuel storage and 150 tonnes of permanent grain silos.

About 17km worth of new fencing was also installed five years ago across Lime Creek’s 20 paddocks.