A productive mixed farming property in north-west NSW now being marketed by Ray White Korff and Company had its origins as a part of renowned Sandy Camp Station.
The property, “Haddington”, is today a 2144 hectare (5300ac) parcel of rich cropping and grazing country bordering the Marthaguy Creek near Quambone, just east of the Macquarie Marshes.
Before being acquired by the Mallons, “Haddington” had a long history of ownership by the McLeish family.
It is owned by Martin and Jacinta Mallon, who came to the area 23 years ago with their three sons, and are selling now as part of a succession plan.
“Haddington” has been listed for sale by Chris Korff and Don Schieb of Ray White Korff and Co and will go to auction in Coonabarabran on February 15.
Before being acquired by the Mallons, “Haddington” had a long history of ownership by the McLeish family, whose extensive landholdings in the North West included “Sandy Camp”.
“Haddington” was subdivided off “Sandy Camp” and retained by the family when the balance of the station was sold in 1948 to the Australian Agricultural Company.
It became home to James Wentworth McLeish in 1952, following James’ return from the war and marriage in 1949 to Barbara (Grose).
James’s father, Jim, had earlier owned another property he called “Haddington” between Orange and Molong, before selling that in 1937 and taking up “Thurn” at Coonamble.
The Haddington name has special significance for the McLeish clan, being the district in Scotland from which the family emigrated to NSW in the late 1800s.
Before moving to “Haddington”, James and Barbara McLeish had lived with James’s parents at “Thurn”, to which they returned in 1960, leaving “Haddington” in the hands of a manager, Ernie Harrison.
In 1977 “Haddington” was taken over by James’s son Steve and his wife Sue, who developed much of the former Merino country for cropping. That process was continued by the present owners, who configured the property for no-till, controlled-traffic farming, with sowing runs mostly of one to 2.5 kilometres.
Soils range from heavy grey alluvials to red clay and lighter loams, with just on 80 per cent of the property’s total area now under cultivation, including 320ha fallow sprayed for 2019 sowing and a further 650ha of unsprayed fallow.
The property has grown a full suite of winter and summer cereal and legume crops, in some years (according to Martin) generating more income than the value of the property.
Owner-estimated carrying capacity of “Haddington” is 1500 breeding ewes and 100 cows, plus 400-600ha of cropping.
Average rainfall is 430mm and the property is watered by solar bore reticulating to tanks and troughs, plus seven dams (five filled from the bore).
A comfortable three-bedroom, air-conditioned, weatherboard homestead set in established gardens is complemented by a one-bedroom cottage. Working improvements include a three-stand shearing shed and steel sheep yards, steel cattle yards, machinery sheds and 590 tonnes of silo storage.
By PETER AUSTIN
