A PRIME, water-rich chunk of mid-Lachlan Valley farming and finishing country has hit the market to wind up 27 years of productive occupation by the Logan family.
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Ron and Beverley Logan are retiring and have listed for sale their well-known “Fairholme” property which fronts the Lachlan Valley Way between Forbes and Condobolin.
The 2347-hectare (5797ac) “Fairholme” is a highly productive mixed farm with a history of irrigated and dryland winter and summer cropping, sheep and cattle breeding, backgrounding and fattening.
After a bumper season, the property has been listed for sale by expressions of interest with Kim Watts of Elders Forbes, and offers for the choice land and water package must be lodged by November 27.
The property’s abundant water entitlements alone are worth more than $2 million at present prices, and buyer interest will be further fuelled by the fact a nearby riverfront property of similar size, “Newlands”, has recently been snapped up by southern interests.
Situated 35 kilometres east of Condobolin where it fronts The Island Creek, a permanent anabranch of the Lachlan, “Fairholme” is a property of rich Lachlan River floodplain studded with yellow box and river gum.
Soils are mostly grey, self-mulching alluvials with areas of red loam and virtually all of the property is arable – and flood free.
The present owners bought the property in 1988 from Brad Staniforth, and previous owners included the Surgeon family from South Australia, and the Darcys, who were shearing 6000 sheep there in the 1960s.
For most of the first half of last century, though, “Fairholme” was held - along with neighbouring “Moonbi” - by prominent pastoralist and racehorse breeder C.S. MacPhillamy of nearby Warroo Station.
The property is also close to the “Cadow”/“Manna” aggregation once held by another prominent pastoralist, J.J. Leahy, who always regarded the Lachlan “off-river country” as his best fattening land.
Today “Fairholme” is managed by Ron and Beverley’s son Bill and his wife Jenny as a cropping and cattle operation, typically growing up to 1200ha of cash and fodder crops alongside a breeding herd of 400 cows (currently reduced to 250) and traded weaners.
About 260ha of the property is developed for flood irrigation (with scope to develop a further 100ha), and 80ha is under pivot irrigation where 560 weaner cattle are now being grown out.
The property is being offered for sale with 3675 megalitres of irrigation water entitlement, drawn variously from bores (2000ML), the Lachlan River (972ML) and Jemalong Irrigation (703ML).
Cropping is centred on a winter rotation of wheat, canola, oats and barley, but summer crops including cotton, sorghum and corn are also grown opportunistically.
Minimum tillage and GPS technologies are employed for maximum efficiency, and wheat yields are typically about 2.5 tonnes/ha.
Average rainfall is in the 450-500mm range and stock water is reticulated to troughs from three stock and domestic bores.
The main homestead, built in the 1940s but extended and modernised by later owners, has five bedrooms and is set in established gardens close to The Island Creek. It is supplemented by a renovated four-bedroom home with in-ground pool, and a two-bedroom cottage.
Working improvements include cattle yards to work 500 head, a 2000t grain shed and 50t weighbridge, three-stand woolshed with steel sheep yards, large machinery sheds, workshop and silos.
Contact Kim Watts, 0429 952 499.
