A highly regarded property in the mid-Lachlan Valley's red-soil mixed farming belt has now hit the market to wind up just over half a century of one-family occupation and expansion.
Moonbah is the 3222 hectare (7961 acres) Condobolin property held since 1969 by the Menzies family and for sale now to allow the retirement of present owners Ian and Jane Menzies.
The property has been listed for sale by Paddy Ward of Ray White Condobolin.
It will go to auction on September 2.
It was Ian's father, Neil Menzies, with his wife Doreen who moved up from Kyabram in Victoria's Goulburn Valley in 1969 to buy Moonbah, then a much smaller 1372ha.
The property had previously been owned by Jack McDonald of nearby Mogandale, who bought it in 1948 from Bert Monk.
Originally Moonbah formed part of Boona West Station.
In 1971, an adjoining block of 206ha became available and was added on.
This brought the total area to 1578ha by the time Ian returned home from boarding school in 1975 to take over the management.
Further additions took place with the purchase of an adjoining 708ha Boona West block from Richard Porter in 2001, and in 2013 the 936ha Part Nyora property of the then local vet, Bruce Watt.
Joined since 1987 by his wife Jane, Ian has brought Moonbah to a high level of productivity with their typically Condobolin mixed farming enterprise mix of Merino sheep and winter cereals.
Their acclaimed flock of Woodpark Merinos, classed for 20 years by Michael Elmes, has twice won the prestigious Don Brown Merino ewe competition, once going on to win the Central West competition.
Situated 35 kilometres north of Condobolin where it borders Boona West and Melrose stations, Moonbah is an open, level to gently undulating property of deep red loam and red sandy loam soils.
About 80 per cent of the property is arable of which about 1200ha is cropped in rotation to wheat and oats, last season's crops coming in at 3.7 tonnes/ha and 3.3t/ha respectively.
This season the property has 1215ha sown to wheat and thriving in the ideal growing conditions.
The crop is included in the sale.
Of the remaining country, 380ha is under self-sown oats and 1445ha lucerne and clover pasture, supporting the all-important Merino flock of 1600 breeding ewes and 70 cows and calves.
Average rainfall is 456mm and the property is watered by 15 dams and piped trough water from the Lachlan via the Mowabla scheme.
The comfortable late-1960s homestead has been extended and renovated in recent years.
The homestead boasts four bedrooms, modern open-plan kitchen and living area, air-conditioned office and a large, under-cover entertaining deck with heated spa.
It is set in established gardens with an adjacent self-contained bedsit with heating and cooling.
The extensive working structures include a near-new 32 metre by 24 metre steel machinery shed, and a lockable toolshed and workshop.
There is also a hay shed, truck and ute sheds, three stables with day yards and silos and grain shed to hold 1100 tonnes.
Livestock infrastructure includes a three-stand shearing shed with Evo gear, two sets of steel sheepyards each with concrete race and draft, and steel cattle yards with race and crush.
By PETER AUSTIN