Record shattered as Rich Listers buy cattle station for $180m

Miranda Downs was put up for sale in April by the Menegazzo family’s Stanbroke Pastoral, one of the world’s largest privately owned beef companies with price expectations of between $145 and $155 million.

The offer included about 55,000 head of cattle worth about $80 million and a 6,000 megalitre water licence from the Gilbert River, which runs through the vast property.

The sale of the land – offered as a rolling term lease – was struck at around $100 million.

Its part of about a $1 billion worth of premium cattle properties that have been listed for sale this year including a $300 million portfolio offering from the country’s biggest landowner, mining magnate Gina Rinehart and this month’s $230 million listing of Northern Territory stations by retail billionaire Brett Blundy.

Market conditions are at or near peak levels due to record high beef prices, the end of the drought, growing global demand for Australian high quality produce, record low interest rates and competition between corporate investors and families for prime agricultural assets.

Total annual returns from premium grazing properties hit a record high of 30 per cent last year, according to the Australian Farmland Index.

They remained elevated at 25 per cent for the first quarter of 2021 with capital values up than 15 per cent and income returns just under 9 per cent.

The buyers of Miranda Downs are lifelong pastoralists who own several properties in central Queensland and the Northern Territory through the Hughes Pastoral Company, Georgina Pastoral and Nebo Beef.

Based at Tierawoomba in Central Queensland where they run 25,000 Wagyu-cross cattle, the Hughes had a fortune of $706 million according to The Australian Financial Review Rich List, up from $694 million in 2020.

The Hugheses sprawling cattle empire had the capacity for 200,000 head of cattle, prior to the acquisition of Miranda Downs. The family’s involvement in the cattle sector dates back to the 1870s.

Bruce Douglas from Ray White negotiated the sale of Miranda Downs.

It eclipsed the previous single pastoral holding benchmark understood to be the $104 million paid for Northern Territory’s Wave Hill Station in February.

Wave Hill Station, famous for the 1966 walk-off by Aboriginal workers, was acquired by Rich Listers the Wilson family, founders of Reece plumbing in partnership with the MacLachlan family’s cattle and sheep empire, Jumbuck Pastoral.