Farmers leading the rush for Lawson Grains farming portfolio but corporates are also lining up

Australia’s private farmers are leading a stampede to snap up part of Macquarie Group’s $600 million sale of a giant package of premium farmland, including six aggregations in WA. Macquarie Crop Partners recently put up for sale its massive Lawson Grain business, comprising 103,000ha (90,000ha arable). The farms produced 251,364 tonnes of grain in 2020. Expressions of interest are being taken for individual properties and the whole package. The properties are being sold because the closed-ended portfolio is nearing the end of its 10-year life and is being liquidated to return proceeds to investors. WA aggregations, totalling 53,000 arable hectares, are Hakea near Munglinup, Walyoo at Dandaragan, St Leonards and Wongan at Wongan Hills, Jerry South at Jerramungup and Gunnadoo at Jacup. Danny Thomas, from Land Agribusiness Water Development, said there had been extraordinary interest in the Lawson Grains portfolio. More than 100 genuine enquiries had been lodged, with most coming from local farmers looking to expand their operations. “We are fielding a lot of enquiries, most from Australian farmers looking to buy individual aggregations. Some are putting syndicates together for particular parcels,” he said. “But there’s also a shedload of interest from corporates for the whole package.” At the corporate level, Australian buyers had shown interest, along with institutional investors from Europe, North America, Canada, and the US. No Chinese buyers had yet come forward, Mr Thomas said. BJW Agribusiness owner Tim Johnston said he was aware of massive interest for the individual WA aggregations among the local farming community. He said he knew of farmers preparing bids for four of the six farms, and expected bids would also be lodged for the other two. “There is strong, genuine interest out there, particularly for the properties around Wongan Hills,” he said. “These particular are smack is the middle of some of the best farming country in WA, are considered iconic properties, and very much in demand.” The sale of the Lawson portfolio comes at a time when farmland across WA continues to break price records on the back of insatiable demand. Mr Thomas said he saw the trend continuing in 2021. “Across Australia farmland is fetching record prices but we expect of all States that WA will be the hottest in 2021,” he said. “WA offers the best dollar value per tonne of grain grown, and you can do this on an extraordinary scale.”