Cherylton Farms enterprise near Kojonup sells for record $100m

A farm in the Great Southern has sold for the highest price in WA history after being snapped up for more than $100 million by a Victorian buyer with Canadian financial backing. Located 23km south-west of Kojonup, Cherylton Farms is an 8554 hectare cropping and livestock enterprise spread across two non-contiguous landholdings in one of WA’s most productive agricultural zones. The farm, owned by WA property builder and investor Julian Walter for the past 14 years, was sold to a “prominent Victorian farming family”, specialist rural property firm LAWD said in a statement Monday. LAWD declined to comment further on the identity of the buyer, however, Countryman understands it to be Ararat-based Excel Farms, led by businessman Nick Paterson and backed by Canadian investor Fiera Comox Partners. Fiera Comox owns more than 2 million hectares of farmland globally, with acquisitions in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Excel Farms was founded in 2020 and has since amassed a large portfolio of mixed-farming properties on South Australia’s Limestone Coast and in Victoria’s Wimmera, Mallee and Western District regions. Mr Paterson, who is Excel’s general manager, is the son of prominent Western District landholders and ACE Radio founders Rowly and Judy Paterson. Mrs Paterson is Rupert Murdoch’s niece. The Cherylton sale smashed the previous record of $97.62m set when Melbourne-based Daybreak Cropping purchased Erregulla Plains — a 22,192ha broadacre enterprise near Mingenew in WA’s Wheatbelt — in February 2020. It was also well above last year’s top three WA agricultural property sales which included Springvale Station — a 604,430ha Kimberley pastoral lease, sold by Yeeda Pastoral Company to Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Harvest Road company for $70m. Other top sellers were the Lancelin Portfolio: an 11,100ha private landholding sold by the family of late Texan entrepreneur Joseph Matthews to the Victorian Investment Management Group for $40m; and Balfour Downs: a 634,000ha Pilbara pastoral lease and cattle station, sold by Chinese businessman Xingfa Ma to Harvest Road for up to $40m. WAFarmers president John Hassell said the Cherylton sale was an “outstanding” result that indicated there was “a lot of positivity in the agricultural industry”. “I think there’s good demand right across the entire grain growing regions,” he said. “That area around Kojonup is reliable, with some potentially really good yields to be had. When you consider that, agricultural land in WA, for the production you can get off, is still very, very cheap.” LAWD director Simon Wilkinson said the sale, which has yet to settle, followed a competitive expression of interest campaign that attracted interest from local, national and international investors. “The sale is record breaking for the area, based on a result of greater than $100m on a walk-in-walk-out basis,” he said. “The successful purchasers hold very similar core values to the Cherylton Farms’ team, which will assist in supporting the continuation of this prosperous enterprise. “LAWD are not only proud to be involved in the sale of such a high-quality asset but are also delighted that we were able to match Cherylton Farms with a new owner with the same commitment to maximising operational efficiency, productivity and sustainability, along with the retention of the existing staff.” Mr Walter, who oversaw significant land class development and capital improvements, said he had “invested significantly” in developing Cherylton Farms over the past 14 years. “We have made a number of strategic investments in the agriculture sector over the past few decades and, in recent years, have had many approaches from parties interested in securing some of our farmland assets due to their scale and high performance,” he told media in November. Existing operations include diversified cropping and livestock grazing with a focus on high-yielding barley, oat, wheat and canola crops, with 15,000 Merino and composite sale ewes and a 170-head Angus herd. Cherylton Farms also boasts two sheep feedlots with a 6000 head combined capacity and a 100-head cattle feedlot. Mr Wilkinson said Mr Walter and farm manager Mike Cameron, who it is understood will remain in the role, had developed an “outstanding blue-chip asset”. “The new owners will benefit from the strategic farming practises implemented by Mr Cameron, who is well regarded for his ability to develop agricultural farmlands into high performing assets through a careful combination of scale, precision management and a strong focus on team culture,” Mr Wilkinson said. Cherylton Farms drives consistent yields averaging 5.7t/ha of barley, 4.7t/ha of oats, 5.1t/ha of wheat and 2.9t/ha of canola according to a listing on Commercial Real Estate’s website. LAWD senior director and prominent rural property specialist Danny Thomas said the “outstanding” sale price reflected a broader trend of large investors seeking WA agricultural assets that offered quality and scale. “We have seen both direct foreign investors and domestic institutions recognise the significant value offered in WA in comparison to east coast Australia and overseas land markets,” he said. “We experienced exceptionally high levels of participation from institutional investors in the sale process for Cherylton Farms. “Any WA vendor looking to divest a high-quality, large-scale asset in the current market will see that asset met with very high demand noting accepted district land values are likely to be eclipsed. “LAWD expect to see this trend continue to strengthen through 2023.”