Australia's Most Expensive Farm

Australia's most productive farmland enters the market

Imagine what you could do with 105,000 hectares of prime farming land in New South Wales and Western Australia. The crops you could grow, the profits you could turn – the possibilities are endless.

That is, if you have $600 million to spare.

With Macquarie Bank’s Lawson Grains entering the market, this fantasy could very well become a reality for institutional buyers and corporate farming groups. The 10-property aggregation will not be divided up into smaller transactions, unfortunately, so the vast majority of private investors will be unable to throw their hat into the ring. 

Crops as far as the eye can see on one of the farms that makes up Lawson Grains.

What is Lawson Grains?

Lawson Grains is a corporate farm made up of over 70 farms in 10 properties acquired by the business since 2012.

Of the six properties in Western Australia, three – St Leonards, Wongan, and Walyoo – lie in the state’s Northern Wheatbelt region, north of Perth, and three – Jerry South, Gunnadoo, and Hakea – lie in the southern region of the state. The other 4 properties – Kealandi, Uah, Grassmere, and Borambil – are located in New South Wales.

Each property was bought with the intent to strategically acquire properties with diverse weather patterns to offset production risks from seasonal conditions. Rainfall diversification remains a key consideration in further acquisitions.

A vast field of canola on one of the Lawson Grains farms

All properties produce wheat, barley, and (except for Kealandi) canola. Other crops produced across the various properties include chickpeas, lupins, oaten hay, faba beans, vetch hay, cotton, and sorghum.

Why is the pricey property being sold?

The sale of the business is being handled by Land Agribusiness Water Development (LAWD). The grains business is being sold because its backing investment fund was due to expire, according to Danny Thomas, the senior director of LAWD, in an interview with ABC News.

So, why the $600m price tag?

With almost 90,000 hectares of arable land that produced over 250,000 tonnes of grain last year, Lawson Grains is a business of immense size and quality rarely seen on the market.  

Harvest is a tremendous undertaking, with over 105,000ha of farmland to cover.

Geographical diversity and high crop output aren’t the only pulls: the fully integrated business comes with all of its operational infrastructure, machinery, and in-house specialist staff.

Skilled management, logistics, and marketing teams remain on board even as ownership transfers with the sale.

The impressive portfolio will make an outstanding investment, as there is scope for increasing productivity and improving infrastructure within the business. Contact our friends at LAWD to make inquiries today. International buyers are welcome, and have until 29 April to express their interest.