THE Buster family's Darling Farms property at Bourke, NSW, is being sold and is likely to bring up to $45 million.
The Buster family was among the Californian pioneers who came to northern NSW in the 1960s to start Australia's booming cotton industry.
Patriarch Jack Buster died in January and the family has decided to pursue other farming enterprises, The Australian Financial Review reports.
Darling Farms managing director and Buster family in-law, Ian Cole, confirmed the family's new direction.
"With the death of Jack the thought is to sell up and move on if we get what we consider to be the right price," he said. "If I had my rathers I probably would have stayed but I have to consider all family members."
Darling Farms is three adjoining irrigated holdings of 14,676 hectares.
Its neighbours, former Clyde Agriculture properties Beemery, Janbeth and Latoka, were sold to Peter Harris for as much as $50 million in April.
The farm is the largest cotton operation to be sold this year and will join other major farming enterprises – likely to capture the attention of offshore investors – such as the prized Boolcarrol and Milton Downs properties outside Moree, northern NSW, held by Australia's biggest wheat producers Ron Greentree and Ken Harris.
In March Southern Agricultural Resources Limited – a fund backed by overseas investors – snapped up Twynam Group's Gundaline Station in the NSW Riverina for about $25 million. Drought crops
Darling Farms suffered in the millennium drought, but has harvested a crop every year since 2009.
The farm can store 38,000 megalitres of water. Extensive rights to harvest water from the Darling River, from which it is named, are also in place. The licences allow the collection of 32,915 megalitres with rights to carry over unused water entitlements of more than 109,000 megalitres.
Darling Farms estimated the overall business could generate $3.1 million earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at conservative cotton price assumptions.
Further development of the property could enable EBITDA to grow to $6 million in cotton season 2015 and to $8 million in cotton season 2016.
Cotton yields on the farm have increased from five bales a hectare in 1967 to 11 bales a hectare in 2014.
BDO Corporate Finance executive director Margaux Beauchamp has been appointed to sell Darling Farms.
"Cotton has historically been considered a high-value crop in a number of Australian growing regions, due to its superior profitability in comparison to alternative uses of land and water," Ms Beauchamp said.
"BDO expects productivity growth in the Australian cotton industry to continue to underpin the growth in land and water capital values."
Australian cotton growers have seen strong prices of more than $500 a bale for several months. This year's national annual crop is forecast to be lower than last year's 4.4 million bale harvest.
Darling Farms also operates the North Bourke Cotton Gin, comprising 24 hectares of industrial land, and has a processing capacity of more than 60,000 bales of cotton a season.
