SOLD

'WILGA' AGGREGATION

AREA: 2,116ha* (5,229 acres)

Wilga: 1,080ha*, Woodlands: 1,036ha*

LOCATION

‘Wilga’ and ‘Woodlands’ share an extensive boundary and both are accessed by the Brigalow Lane on two sides.

‘Wilga’, 1009 Brigalow Lane, is situated 10km* west of Bellata off the Millie Road. It has sealed access for all but 1km.

Bellata is 50km from both Moree and Narrabri on the Newell Highway. School bus pick up point to Narrabri is 5kms from

‘Wilga’ front gate, with Bellata Primary school pick up being 1km from ‘Wilga’.

Mail delivery is three days per week for both ‘Wilga’ and ‘Woodlands’.

‘Woodlands’, 17473 Newell Highway, has direct access to the Newell Highway and is one km from the Manildra grain receival storage site, is 8kms from Gurley GrainCorp site and is 10kms from Bellata GrainCorp site. School bus to Moree passes the ‘Woodlands’ front gate.

Moree Airport has regular flight services to Sydney, while Narrabri Airport services both Sydney and Brisbane.

TENURE

Freehold.

RAINFALL

Approximately 600mm per annum.

WATER

Water is a feature of the ‘Wilga’ aggregation with dams and bores. Every paddock on the farm is equipped with storage tanks and troughs.

The bores on both farms provide excellent water for spraying.

‘Wilga’; 60ML sub artesian bore (WAL 15780), the 28ML* Tookey Creek dam (23ML – WAL 31261, WAL 31263),

Four additional dams, Millie Cap & Bore (16 troughs).

‘Woodlands’; ‘Woodlands’ bore (8 troughs), five dams.

SOIL TYPE

The country is level to gently sloping with soil types ranging from rich red loams on ‘Woodlands’ to deep black alluvial soils on ‘Wilga’. In excess of 15,000t of composted feedlot manure has been spread over the aggregation in the last 15 years.

There is an excellent gravel pit on ‘Woodlands’, while the feedlot, houses and associated infrastructure are concentrated on separate red ridges. Extensive soil conservation works have been undertaken by the MacCue family on ‘Woodlands’ with contours and fenced waterways to prevent erosion and maximise grazing opportunities. These areas have excellent shade belts and water, and are regularly fertilised and seeded.

LAND-USE

Vendors advise that 1,585ha* of cultivation country is available, all with a full profile of moisture. This cultivation includes a 622ha* 2022 wheat crop that the MacCue family have included with the farm sale. ‘Wilga’ has 232ha of this crop and ‘Woodlands’ has 290ha of wheat sown.

There is also an excellent 227ha* dry land cotton crop on ‘Wilga’. This crop will be picked before sale and retained.

The balance of the cultivation country is under fallow.

The improved native pasture paddocks are high quality and ideal for breeding or backgrounding. They are cleared to shade, well fenced, regularly fertilised, have excellent water and are carrying a large body of feed.

The MacCue family have sought independent professional agronomy advice for over 40 years and have maintained comprehensive paddock records dating from 1976. These records will be made available to an intending purchaser and include costings (since 2004) and crop yields.

The family have successfully grown wheat, barley, chick peas, cotton, sorghum, oat crops in addition to summer forages and lucerne.

The soil is magnificent and the climate is kind; as previously stated, the family have not missed a winter crop in the 46 years that they have lived at ‘Wilga’.

The farm also features an established 600 tree olive grove.

STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS (not including feedlot infrastructure)

HOMES

The c.1965 ‘Wilga’ homestead is a 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom weatherboard house set amongst mature trees in a low maintenance garden with outdoor barbecue area, extensive lawns and new in-ground pool. The adjacent large poultry yards, stables and milking bail complete an idyllic family farm lifestyle. The timber framed home has recently been repainted (internally) with new carpet installed in 4 bedrooms. The homestead is equipped with solar panels, air conditioning and features a fully enclosed north facing verandah and seperate double car lock up garage with concrete floor.

The modern ‘Woodlands’ homestead was built in 2009. The timber framed, 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with Hardiplank exterior and Colorbond roof is set on steel adjustable piers. The extensive yard is fully fenced andfeatures established lawns and trees with adjacent poultry yards. The well-designed home is equipped with solar panels and is air conditioned (ducted reverse cycle) throughout. It has a large easterly facing verandah and includes an open plan kitchen, dining room and family room. There is ample undercover parking for 4 cars, including a lockable garage with concrete floor.

The c.1960 ‘Wilga’ cottage is a timber framed construction with fibro walls and corrugated iron roof and is set in a large fully enclosed yard. It was renovated in 1990 and has recently been painted inside and had a new kitchen and bathroom installed (2020). The cottage has 3 carpeted bedrooms with quality polished floorboards throughout the remainder. The house and yard are very well watered.

SHEDS

‘Woodlands’ has a three stand electric powered shearing shed, last used in 2016. It is of steel construction on a pier foundation with a raised timber floor. The small set of adjacent sheep yards are generally in reasonable condition. The grain shed on ‘Woodlands’ is of steel construction with corrugated iron internal cladding and concrete floor. It has a concrete lip around the base of walls. It is in very good order (500-600t capacity).

The ‘Wilga’ machinery shed is of steel frame construction (320 sq. M), in good condition with power connected and 4 x 22,700L poly rain water tanks attached.

AIRSTRIP

‘Woodlands’ has a gravel airstrip that is suitable for light aircraft. This strip is part of the internal road network and is situated adjacent to the chemical mixing area and 22,000 litre bore tank.

GRAVEL PIT

The pit is the source for the highly regarded “Bellata gravel”. It is licensed with the Narrabri Shire Council. Although a strong income stream, the MacCue family choose to retain the asset for farm use.

FENCING

The MacCue family have recently (2019) introduced the Weston fencing programme to the farm. To date, on ‘Wilga’, 5kms* of Weston boundary fencing and 4.7 kms of Weston internal fencing have been installed.

On ‘Woodlands’, 3kms of Weston boundary fencing has been installed.

The balance of fencing on both farms are stock proof and generally in good order.

SOIL CARBON

The MacCue family recognise the economic and environmental benefits of retaining soil carbon. As such they have employed the Precision Pastures company from Armidale to conduct an independent analysis of the carbon potential of ‘Wilga’ aggregation.

The Precision Pastures ‘Carbon Starter Report’ (Part B) indicates significant and long term financial returns, increased production and global environmental benefits. We strongly encourage interested parties analyse this report.

'WILGA' FEEDLOT

'Wilga' feedlot has evolved over the years as a family owned, modern and efficient, fully automated operation, with a capacity of 3,200 head and is licensed to 5,000 head.

There is ample space allocated for expansion.

As a member of the National Feedlot Accreditation Scheme (#915), the feedlot is also MSA accredited (#0054) and holds an EPA licence (#EPL 20904). The feedlot is also registered with the Narrabri Shire Council.

FEEDLOT PENS

The feedlot features three sections, each built at different periods with the older sections recently renovated.

Section 1; Pens 1-4 consisting of 4 x 40m (bunk) x 50m pens, 180 head capacity, 1 x 9.6m (bunk) x 45m holding pen and a 1 x 6.5m (bunk) holding pen. The pens have concrete feed aprons and concrete water troughs in the fence lines. New concrete feed bunks installed 2020 (Warialda engineering) with Weston electric fence pen dividers (2022).

Section 2; Pens 5-7 consisting of 3 x 40m (bunk) x 50m (1 x 45m), concrete feed apron, concrete water troughs in pens, new concrete feed bunks installed 2020 (as above), steel and cable fences with electric stand-off.

Section 3; Fully designed and constructed 2016. 7 x 60m (bunk) x 50m pens each 240 head capacity, 4 x 20m (bunk) x 50m pens each 75 head capacity, 2 x receivable / hay / holding pens. Slip formed concrete bunks, concrete feed apron, concrete road apron, concrete water troughs in fence lines, steel and five cable fences with belly rail. This section had shade installed September 2020.

'Wilga' feedlot is a highly successful and award winning 5,000 head licensed facility with an approximate 3,200 head capacity. It has been recognised at the highest level; a top 3 finalist for MSA Feedlot Producers in NSW (2019); most outstanding MSA Beef Producer Feedlot NSW (2019); top 3 finalist in the under 3,000 head section in the ALFA Feedlot of the Year competition (2015). Additionally, 'Wilga' feedlot has hosted the annual RAS Beef Challenge feedlot competition for 10 consecutive years.

WATER SUPPLY & STORAGE

Water supply is a feature of 'Wilga' feedlot. There are three approved and licensed water sources; 60ML subartesian bore, Tookey Creek dam and the Millie Cap & Pipe bore. 'Wilga' feedlot was unaffected by the water shortages that plagued many Australian feedlots during the 2017 - 2019 drought. Additionally, there is in excess of 500,000L of water tank storage dedicated to the feedlot with multiple pumping systems to the feedlot pens.

Feedlot bore; Sub-artesian, 60ML licence (WAL 15780), 520m deep, stainless steel casing, 70m* deep submersible pump. Additionally, there is a secondary surface pump if the submersible fails.

Tookey Creek dam; very large dam, (utilised as a backup for sub artesian bore),with a 23ML licence (WAL 31261 and WAL 31263), plumbed into the major feedlot water tank (276,000L). This backup has not been required to date.

Millie Cap & Pipe bore; Access to Millie Bore as part of the cap and pipe scheme, plumbed into the major feedlot water tank as a backup. This system supplies 'Wilga' paddock tanks and troughs and continually tops up the feedlot storage tank.

Water storage; 6 x 46,000L poly tanks utilised for cooling bore water and storage and additional 276,000L Pioneer steel tank that can be supplied by the six poly tanks, feedlot bore, Millie cap and pipe, or the Tookey Creek dam.

Water pumping; There are multiple water pumping options to the feedlot pens. 2 x Grundfos pumps, a primary and secondary pump that can pump directly from the 276,000L tank and the 6 x 46,000L poly tanks, or direct from submersible bore pump or direct from secondary surface pump.

LIQUID FEED HANDLING

The liquid feed handling system at ‘Wilga’ feedlot is outstanding. The system is fully automated and features two Liquid batching tanks on individual scales with drive under for quick fill into the feed cart with the capability to batch five liquids.

The current configuration is:

Liquid 1 - Supplement, 35,000L poly silo tank with independent electric pump;

Liquid 2 - Molasses, 2 x 22,700L tanks with independent electric pump;

Liquid 3 - Oil, 35,000L poly silo tank with independent electric pump;

Liquid 4 - Spare, 35,000L poly silo tank.

Liquid 5 - Water, 22,700L poly tank with direct access to main water supply.

CATTLE HANDLING FACILITIES

250 head working capacity Wean style steel cattle yards with cable/steel fences, covered working area, independent weigh box and CIA cattle crush. Laneways link all feedlot pens to working pens.

WEIGHBRIDGE

30t x 8.2m electric, recently updated 6 x 5t Ruddweigh weigh cells and monitor box. Checked annually by Weights and Measures.

WEATHER STATION

Maestro automatic weather station with on-line ‘Weathermation’ live capabilities. Environdata monitored and maintained.

CATTLE WASH

12.5m x 5m concrete cattle wash (1/2 B-double capacity) with lane access to cattle yards/feed pens.

WASH BAY

8.4m x 4.2m concrete wash bay with high pressure water access.

GRAIN STORAGE & HANDLING

Silos; 5 x 120t self emptying conical based silos, each with overhead filling, and empty into table auger via pencil augers. 2 x 600t flat bottom silos, each with internal sweep and empty into table auger.

Handling; All grain facilities are run by 3 phase electric power and are controlled by touch screen operations with automatic control.

All grain passes through a grain cleaner and dust extractor from table augers and is tempered via a stainless steel wetting and mixing auger. Grain can be held in either of two x 20t poly dwell silos each with individual load cells, before being processed in the new (2022) R&R 52 x 12 crimp roller mill (12-15t/hour capacity). Processed grain is stored in overhead silos which are drive under for quick fill into feed cart.

BUILDINGS / SHEDS

The feedlot has eight major buildings for commodities, security and day to day running.

Commodity sheds 

Commodity 1- 13.8m x 11m steel frame shed with concrete floor, enclosed three sides with part concrete walls and power connected and 6.1m x 11m concrete apron with concrete block dividing wall (1/3 & 2/3 bays).

Commodity 2 - 19.2m x 8.7m steel frame shed, concrete floor and enclosed three sides with part concrete walls.

Commodity 3 - 24.8m x 18.6m steel frame shed, enclosed three sides with concrete block part walls and centre dividing wall.

Hayshed; 47.6m x 21.1m steel frame shed, power connected and part concrete floor (11.9m x 14m). This shed is designed to store 1500* 8 x 4 x 3 bales of hay.

Machinery shed; 20.2m x 5.2m steel frame with drive through structure and enclosed western wall and top half of eastern, power connected.

Chemical storage; 5.3m x 5.9m steel frame lockable shed with concrete bunded floor (attached to work shop).

Workshop; 9.8m x 5.9m steel framed shed with concrete floor, enclosed bay, lights and power connected.

Office; 7.2m x 3.0m mobile office complete with kitchenette, air conditioning and toilet / wash basin and adjacent 20ft container for storage purposes.

BJA Stock and Station Agents are inviting offers for 'Wilga' Aggregation, Bellata by Expressions of Interest (EOI) closing Wednesday July 6th, 2022 at 10am.

The property is offered by option:

1) ‘Wilga’ Aggregation, Bellata NSW 2397 (2,116ha)

2) ‘Wilga’ Bellata NSW (1,080ha)

3) ‘Woodlands’ Bellata NSW (1,036ha)

For more Information please contact:                                                 

Ben Hiscox 

Director | BJA Stock and Station Agents  

Mobile: 0429 669 313

Email: ben@bjassa.com.au   

Disclaimer: The information in full and extract form has been furnished to us by the vendor of the property listed. We have not verified whether of not said information is accurate and do not have any belief one way or another in its accuracy. BJA do not accept any responsibility to any person for its accuracy and do no more than pass it on. All interested parties should make and rely upon their own enquiries in order to determine whether or not this information is, infact, accurate.

*Approximately