WHEN Allen and Marion Wensing were looking for property in the Riverina in 1997, “Penally”, Narrandera, struck them as a profitable piece of land.
The 753-hectare property (1860 acres) offered dryland and irrigated farming opportunities and to their surprise, the land could carry 3000 ewes and lambs.
“We could really see ourselves making income from a diverse number of income streams,” Mr Wensing said.
They purchased the property and have been all-systems-go for twenty “enjoyable” years.
But the time has come for the Wensings to scale down.
The property is now for sale for $2.85 million through Landmark Harcourts Wagga Wagga.
“We’re among the lucky ones who can say we’ve been able to make a very comfortable living from farming. I’ll miss it all,” Mr Wensing said.
Without doubt the most profitable aspect of their operation has been their 46ha Jojoba plantation.
At $49 a litre for the plant’s oil-like wax, the plantation (which contains 50,000 trees) has been a lucrative venture.
“It was a gamble at first because we’d never grown it before but to my absolute amazement it’s been a reliable crop with an incredible ability to return profits,” he said.
“It requires very little maintenance too – we’ve never put insecticide near it.”
The plant’s seed is harvested twice a year using the same equipment used by the almond industry. The seed is then taken to Cootamundra to get crushed after which it’s sold to cosmetic companies.
“I hope the buyer of the property has an interest in Jojoba. It certainly gets in your blood and I would like to see someone with more energy take it on.”
In recent years the Wensings, who migrated from The Netherlands in 1966, have been transitioning out of cropping to focus on their sheep enterprise.
Last year they stripped 350ha (870 acres) of wheat and barley. This year, they’ll plant half this amount.
Currently, they run 2400 ewes and are on track to increasing this number to 3000.
Water has not been a problem at “Penally” during their ownership, Mr Wensing said.
The district’s average annual rainfall is 450 millimetres and the property has nearly four kilometres of frontage to the permanent Old Man Creek. It also has several dams and six troughs.
“Penally” has two irrigation licences including a 606 megalitre mid-Murrumbidgee zone three groundwater licence and a 12ML Murrumbidgee River general security licence.
There is also a secure stock and domestic licence of 8ML.
Around 40ha of the place is under centre pivot irrigation, 75ha is irrigated by a linear irrigator that travels 485 metres; 126ha is set up for flood irrigation and there is 20ha of border check irrigation. “Penally” also has a 20ML storage dam.
