Article courtesy of Beef Central
GINA Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture has expanded its Wagyu cattle backgrounding capacity, with the purchase of a New South Wales property.
The 1918ha Split Rock Dairy, situated north of Manilla in the Tamworth region in New South Wales will compliment other backgrounding properties within the Hancock Agriculture portfolio in the region. The property includes irrigated and dryland cropping with 366ha irrigated through 11 pivots.
The purchase price and specific terms remains confidential.
“We thank the vendor for facilitating the sales process and we wish them well,” the company said in a statement.
“The acquisition complements other agricultural acquisitions in the last twelve months including Moolan Downs and Ottley as well as other smaller acquisitions around Australia that compliment other aggregations.
“Split Rock Dairy, to be now known as Buena Vista, will now be integrated into the Hancock Agriculture portfolio with a focus on investing infrastructure and implementing actions areas that focus on animal welfare, and employee safety.”
The property will add to the company’s backgrounding capacity and feed into the company’s 2GR branded, vertically integrated fullblood and pure bred Wagyu operation. The company came in at number 14 on Beef Central’s top 25 lotfeeders list this year, with a capacity to feed 22,800 SCU across two yards in NSW and Qld.
Significant investments in backgrounding capacity
Hancock has invested significantly in its backgrounding capacity in recent years, purchasing Moolan Downs and Ottley in the dispersal of properties owned by Packhorse Pastoral Company after its executive director Tom Strachan tragically died in plane crash.
Last year, Hancock purchased the 3073ha irrigated and dryland cropping/grazing property Warra Warra property on Qld’s Western Downs and paid a reported $150m on the Wee Waa aggregation in Northern NSW. The company also purchased Sundown Valley, near Kingstown, west of Armidale in 2018.
In its statement about the property purchase, Hancock said it will continue to work towards its mantra that “happy healthy cattle are the best cattle.”
“We continue to drive a change in the culture across the business. Hancock Agriculture have been leaders in this regard.”
