Paraway Pastoral Company has added another string to its bow in northern NSW with the acquisition of the 3000-head Nullamanna Feedlot at Inverell.
The property, comprising the 1872 hectare Nullamanna Station and a nearby 335ha farming block, Koolabah, was offered for sale last September by expressions of interest.
Nullamanna is the homestead portion of the original 30,000-acre Nullamanna run taken up in 1839 (along with Bukkulla) by pioneer Inverell settler George Wyndham.
Bob Jamieson Agencies of Inverell marketed the property on behalf of former Test cricketer Peter Taylor and his wife Julie, who bought it in 2016 from the Lane family as an extension of their Glen Eden farming operation at Gurley.
At the time, Nullamanna was a modest 1000-head feedlot oriented to supplying the domestic market, but the Taylors trebled the capacity, obtained EU accreditation and with the help of Bob Jamieson Agencies' Kieran te Velde, developed an export market to the EU.
It was only due to the drought, which resulted in three years without a harvested crop on Glen Eden, that the Taylors decided reluctantly to offload Nullamanna and consolidate at Gurley.
In taking over Nullamanna (with all staff) last month, Paraway also took over an existing supply arrangement with NH Foods, which has been processing the beef for export at its Wingham abattoir.
The feedlot is now fully stocked and backgrounding capacity for a further 2000 head is being established. Cattle are fed for 120 days, resulting in total annual output of some 9000 bullocks.
No price was disclosed for the sale of Nullamanna Feedlot, although earlier estimates put the land value alone at more than $10 million, plus the value of the modern feedlot and associated infrastructure.
The Taylors meanwhile are enjoying a seasonal turnaround at Gurley, where the Moree district is preparing for its first full-scale winter crop planting in four years.