GARRY and Amy Cordwell's 2802 hectare (6923 acre) Westmar property Wallanba has sold on an online auction for $9.5 million.
The sale price is equal to an impressive $3390/ha ($1372/acre).
Bidding opened at $6m, rising in $500,000 lifts until hitting $9m. From then $50,000 bids were accepted, reaching $9.1m. The auction was then paused by to seek further instructions from both the vendors and bidders.
After about a 20 minute break auctioneer Mitch Peereboom announced the property was on the market at $9.1m, resulting in four more $100,000 bids, and the sale of the property at $9.5m.
Wallanba comprises of 2802 hectares (6923 acres) of predominantly cleared, flat to slightly undulating brigalow/belah country.
The property is located 10km north of Westmar and 55km south of Meandarra and has a double frontage to the Moonie River and single frontage to Parrie Moolah Creek.
Wallanba carries 550 breeders. The property is efficiently fenced into 20 grazing paddocks, all of which have access to laneways that service centrally located 800 head cattle yards.
Irrigation is a feature of Wallanba. There are three unsupplemented licenses on the Moonie River supplying a total 1200 megalitres of irrigation water. Water is harvested and held in a 1000ML ring tank. There is also a licensed weir on the Moonie River, which holds 60ML.
The water is used to irrigate improved pastures and leucaena on heavy country, which has rightly earned Wallanba the reputation of a beef production powerhouse.
Much of the country north of the Moonie has been previously cultivated but is now well established to sub-tropical pastures. The brigalow/belah country is interspersed with small areas lighter red country.
Leucaena, undersown with sub tropical pastures, has been establised on 151ha (370 acres) of laser leveled country and is flood irrigated. The leucaena is well established and allows livestock to be grazed at a bit over a beast to the acre. There is also a centre pivot watering 42ha, primarily used to produce fodder crops.
Extensive areas of Wallanba also feature well established sown pastures including bambatsi, green panic, digitaria, blue grass, buffel and purple pigeon.
Structural improvements include a six bedroom homestead, a four bedroom cottage, machinery sheds, hay shed, workshop, garage, stables and a decommissioned shearing shearing shed.
Livestock water is supplied from holes along the Moonie River and other semi permanent water courses. There are also numerous fenced and equipped dams. Each paddock has two separate watering points.
The marketing of Wallanba was handled by Bruce Douglas, Mark Schwerin, and Bruce Birch from Ray White Rural.