The 806 hectare grazing property, "Dunvargon", 22 kilometres east of Inverell, looks the complete package for any would-be buyer.
With an annual rainfall of about 784 millimetres, “Dunvargon” is in one of the safer grazing areas of NSW and is on red and black basalt soils with about 400 ha of potentially arable country.
There are also timber stands of yellow and white box, red gum, apple and stringy bark.
It features 28 paddocks with fencing in good condition, a 60 megalitre spring fed irrigation dam and six additional dams, and a bore to service the house and stock troughs.
It has timber and steel cattle yards with crush and loading ramp, and a machinery shed.
According to the Inverell-based selling agent, Ben Lehman of Lehman Stock and Property, the vendors, Eric and Vicky Higgins, have stocked the property conservatively, using rotational grazing which has allowed an excellent cover of medics and legumes.
The four bedroom homestead features separate living and dining areas and an office, two bathrooms, air-conditioning, a wood fire, a large outdoor room and an above-ground swimming pool.
There are also a double garage and a double open bay carport.
Eric and Vicky moved there from a property near Gloucester in 2002, arriving in the middle of a one-in-100 years drought.
Mr Higgins said however the area this year was experiencing one of its best seasons ever, with 235mm of rain in March alone.
"It has made the area a shining gem to compared with other places".
He said both he and Vicky were now over 60 years of age and their plan was to retire to "somewhere on the coast" – preferably close to an airport and railway to make it easier to visit their children in Darwin and Brisbane.
Mr Higgins said that although they had bred cattle in the past, in recent years they had focussed on buying steers, preferably British breeds, to background for feedlots.
"We bought weaner steers at 250 to 300 kilograms and aimed to put 200 kilograms on them and sell them after 12 months," he said.
“We were looking to make $400 per head,” he said.
For grazing the Higgins had relied on native pastures and encouraged medics and clover so grow, and sometimes used molasses as a supplement in the drier winters.
The property will be auctioned at 11am at the Riverside Function Centre in Inverell on Friday, August 11.