A large property near Yetman in northern NSW has sold for $5.6 million, the equivalent of about $1155 an acre.
Resolute Property Group agent Ben Forrest said an identified local cattle family had emerged from a field of six local and Queensland-based bidders to win the day.
He said interest rate jitters hadn't played any role in the result, which was close to agent expectations.
"There's no been no major evidence of the heat coming off property, I think it's still pretty firm," Mr Forrest said.
Lisgar runs 450-500 cows and calves, grows oats on the rich basalt farming soils, is nicely watered and has scale with scope for growth.
It has 1962 hectares (or 4849 acres) freehold plus another 120ha or so of adjoining stock routes available to lease from the Local Land Services, with plenty more of scope for growth, too, vendor Simone Tully told ACM ahead of the June 10 auction.
She and husband Shane have been grazing and farming Lisgar for the last 20 years but cleared 400ha of timber a year ago.
Ms Tully said the native pastures, a mix dominated by bluegrass, vetch and desmodium, had responded quickly, boosting the carrying capacity of the farm by at least another 100 head.
Perhaps another 250ha could be similarly cleared, which Ms Tully estimated would allow buyers to add another 70-80 cattle.
Lisgar's other big selling point, Resolute Property Group agent Ben Forrest said, was water.
The district has a reliable 700 millimetres of average annual rainfall and the property is well set up with 17 dams servicing 15 paddocks.
There are three bores plumbed into the reticulated water line for redundancy, including a newly operational system equipped with a solar pump that delivers about 1 litre a second.
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That water and the productive soils have underpinned an Angus cattle operation supported by plantings, mostly of forage oats, on the 151ha cultivation area.
Lisgar's soils, Ms Tully said, were roughly 60 per cent black basalt, 30-35pc red and 5-10pc sandy, which made the farm resilient to just about any season.
Just as well set up as the farm is the 1950s-era four bedroom, two bathroom, plus office, homestead, which has been recently reroofed, rewired and has a new kitchen and bathroom.
There's also a one-bedroom, self-contained guesthouse, which Ms Tully said was perfect for guests and backpackers alike.
Marian Macdonald
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
