A North West Slopes grazing property with links to one of the Barraba district's pioneering families and best known cattle studs has become one of the first significant NSW listings for 2020.
On offer is Ironbark Station, a property originally taken up in the 1840s by the Spencer family who held it for more than a century as the base for its Ironbark Pastoral Company.
In 1934 E.L. Spencer took the Ironbark name as the prefix for the Hereford stud he founded in that year on another district property, Mulwarrie, where the stud continues under Spencer family ownership.
Ironbark Station meanwhile saw two other owners before being bought as a 1675 hectare (4139 acre) parcel in 2011 by Sydney businessman Greg Hayes.
He later added the adjoining Tower Hill of 747ha (1846ac), making up the 2422ha (5985ac) aggregation now for sale by expressions of interest through McCulloch Agencies of Tamworth.
Situated 23 kilometres east of Barraba, and within 120km of Tamworth and Armidale, Ironbark Station is a low-cost grazing property currently managed as a Merino breeding nursery.
In normal seasons it runs a self-replacing flock of 6000 breeding ewes joined variously to Merino and Border Leicester rams.
The crossbred lambs are then transferred for finishing to the same owner's more highly improved Bareela property, west of Barraba.
Mr Hayes also recently acquired an irrigation block on the Namoi River and he is now selling Ironbark Station to concentrate on his other more intensive holdings.
Described as mostly undulating hill country of basalt and red granite soils with some rocky ridges, Ironbark Station also has extensive loamy flats bordering its 7km frontage to Ironbark Creek.
Timbered by box, apple, ironbark and kurrajong, the country is mostly cleared for grazing with a mix of native pastures and introduced tropical grasses and clovers, top dressed over many years.
Average rainfall is around 700mm and apart from the semi-permanent Ironbark Creek, the property is watered by dams, springs and a reticulation system feeding troughs in most of the 22 paddocks.
Water is drawn from the three equipped bores (including one solar bore delivering 54,000 litres/hour) supplemented by a pump on the creek.
Not overburdened with costly infrastructure, the property does however boast a top-class, near-new, steel shearing shed with four electric stands on a semi-circular raised board and a huge wool room.
The shed also has undercover space for 2000 woollies and is flanked by steel and timber sheep yards with covered working area.
Other working structures include three sets of cattle yards, machinery shed, workshop and hay sheds.
Expressions of interest for Ironbark Station close on March 16.
The large weatherboard homestead has six bedrooms, reverse-cycle split-system air conditioning, slow-combustion heating, an enclosed deck and also features an inground saltwater pool.
The vendor is reportedly prepared to meet the market, it's no secret that similar country nearby has sold recently at around $2000/ha ($800/ac).
By PETER AUSTIN.
