Riverina aggregation Ballandry sold

Poultry pioneer David Bartter’s 26,839ha “Ballandry” aggregation in the NSW Riverina region has been sold to a joint venture between an Australian farmer and a Canadian investment fund.

The aggregation comprises 16 individual dryland cropping properties, which were amalgamated by Mr Bartter over the past 40 years, acting on the theory that neighboring land typically only becomes available once in a generation, if at all.

Offered through CBRE Agribusiness’ Boo Harvey, the aggregation represents a sizeable foothold in the Riverina region.

The property has benefitted from a regular fertilizer and liming programs as well as the incorporation of legumes into crop rotations. Current crop rotations include wheat, barley, canola and legumes such as lupins and vetch.

Average long-term wheat yields at Ballandry have been 2.5 tonnes per hectare, however in recent years Mr Bartter said the property has been able to produce well above 3 tonnes per hectare.

“By improving the soils, we are now able to grow crops with much higher yields on less rainfall than what we have ever been able to do before,” Mr Bartter said.

CBRE’s Ms Harvey noted, “We wish the purchasers every success in the future. They have secured one of the largest cropping properties in the Region and we look forward to watching Ballandry enter its next chapter under this new stewardship.”

Ballandry was purchased on a ‘walk-in-walk-out’ basis and included 45,457 Murrumbidgee Irrigation Delivery Entitlements as well as the benefit of the 2023 crop.

The overall Ballandry offering includes 20,000 tonnes of grain and fertiliser storage as well as machinery sheds, workshops, plant and equipment.

It has an annual cropping program of 21,833ha across three aggregations and is only 37km north of Griffith.