Broadacre cropping boost for the NT with cattle station sale

The investment group CropScale Australia has bought Tipperary group's Douglas West property which takes in 42,300 hectares (104,526 acres) in the Daly region, about 200km south of Darwin.

No price was offered for the off-market buy from Melbourne barrister Allan Myers who still has Tipperary's larger East, West and Litchfield properties across 343,701ha.

Tipperary has been a driving force in recent years in the move from pure-play cattle production to new crops like cotton and citrus under general manager David Connolly.

CropScale Australia says it has plans to operate "regenerative agricultural and pastoral activities" which would introduce new technology to the Territory.

It also says it has immediate plans to add a second property to its portfolio.

CropScale says it has strong expertise in cost-efficient broadacre cropping, crop monitoring and land mapping technology, infrastructure development, and value-add supply chains and specialises in large-scale precision broadacre cropping within wet/dry climates.

Douglas West commonly records 1200mm in wet season rains.

Tipperary and other NT pastoralists have been experimenting with growing cotton using wet season rains alone.

The NT government last year released an agribusiness strategy which sets a target of 100,000ha of broadacre cropping by 2030.

Lease laws will need to be changed to allow clearing for cropping which many station owners are pushing hard for.

The opening of a cotton gin near Katherine in December has boosted their ambitions with 90 growers planting about 10,000ha of cotton this wet season.

Tipperary's Mr Myers officiated at the opening.

While Tipperary's Mr Connolly has been a leading light in the NT's cotton ambitions he is also the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association president.

CropScale Australia's project managing director Phillip Walter said holistic farming methods would focus on renewing and enhancing soil health and nutrient levels to develop profitable regenerative agriculture.

"Lack of working capital and negative impacts on profitability are the most quoted barriers to farmers transitioning to a regenerative approach to soil ecology," he said.

CropScale has developed a broadacre farming methodology specifically for large-scale (2000ha plus) operations designed to increase crop margins, farm profitability and reduce input costs.

"Regenerative agriculture and maximising shareholder value are not opposites." Mr Walter said.

"Regenerative agriculture prioritises cropping strategies that add organic matter and biodiversity to soil, leading to a more resilient ecosystem.

"This practice involves techniques including crop rotation, cover cropping, reduced tillage, and integrating livestock manures."

He said regenerative methods designed for the Territory "result in a self-sustaining agricultural system that not only produces more nutritious food but also sequesters carbon in the soil, and when combined with our technology platform reduces reliance on external fertiliser inputs".

CropScale plans to reinstate nature corridors on previously cleared land to support and encourage native flora and fauna, and practice crop rotation to support healthy soils with sustainable seasonal water use through crop selection, climate-proven technologies and agronomy science.

Mr Walter said CropScale is planning to capitalise on the property's soil potential over a five-year period, adhering to best practice regenerative farming approaches.

He said the project would "deliver considerable investment" to the NT, through industry and research partnerships, shared knowledge and supporting local businesses through purchasing supplies and investment into crop processing infrastructure.

"We are committed to contributing to and being part of the Top End community," he said.

"Our senior team includes highly skilled local station management who know the property well and will live on farm, and the wider advisory team includes well-known NT agronomists and crop specialists.

"We have been on-station conducting surveys and research since last year."

He said the company would invest in infrastructure and technology, supporting local businesses, and are committed to an open source approach.

He said CropScale would share its learnings from the data collected on what works best and why, how we overcame challenges, and provide support with adoption to climate-proven technology and practices to other growers and farmers.

CropScale's operations subsidiary "Territory Harvest" would invest in on-site wholesale and retail crop processing to achieve overall gross margin uplift for regional farmers.

The company said its platform and consulting division "CropScaleAI" had unlocked the ability to monitor broadacre crop health and soil ecology with centimetre-level accuracy to assess individual plant health and reduce input costs using established monitoring hardware and proprietary software, including variable command uploading into John Deere machinery.

The data stream is enabled by StarLink's low orbit broadband network combined with GeoScience Australia's GNSS station in the Daly region.

Mr Walter said Australia's food and fibre security depends on a blend of controlled environment production where the cost variable is energy, and 'at-scale' crop farming where economies of scale, climate-tested precision methodologies, end-to-end supply chain control, and sustainable approaches to soil management provide the greatest economic benefits.

Tipperary's Mr Myers said CropScale had the ability to add value to NT's agricultural industry.

"We were impressed with CropScale's data-driven and disciplined approach and sustainable practices."