THE South Australian rural property market remains a hive of activity, with the 2870-hectare Mt Schanck station the latest blue ribbon holding listed for sale.
Owned by the Melbourne-based Evans family, Mt Schanck will be offered to the open market for the first time, with listing agent CBRE tipping a sale figure of more than $50 million.
Located about 13 kilometres south of Mount Gambier, the historic station features a stately four-bedroom, circa 1864 homestead set within manicured gardens, as well as numerous additional high-quality staff residences, a six-stand shearing shed dating back to 1875, shearer’s quarters and Pratley sheep and cattle yards.
Mt Schanck also includes close to 5000 megalitres of ground water entitlement. About 700 hectares is under centre pivot irrigation, used for lucerne-based pastures, fodder cropping and hay production, with occasional third-party use for potatoes and other cash crops.
The property last changed hands in 2005, when the late Ron Evans completed an off-market deal with the Clarke family. They had owned Mt Schanck for more than 140 years, having bought the property from the Arthur brothers of Van Diemans Land (now Tas) in 1861.
CBRE’s Danny Thomas and Phil Schell have been appointed to conduct the sale via a forthcoming international expressions of interest campaign.
“Mt Schanck is an iconic, investment-scale asset,” Mr Thomas said. “It is incredibly rare for landholdings of this scale that have such a unique position in the history of Australian agriculture to be presented to the market, and to that end Mt Schanck is now being offered publicly for sale for the first time ever, having been owned by only three families.”
The property is being offered for sale on a walk-in walk-out basis including more than 2000 Rennylea, Te Mania and Landfall-blood Angus cows with calves and heifer replacements, along with about 2500 composite ewes with lambs at-foot and an extensive list of fit-for-purpose plant and equipment.
Carrying capacity is rated at more than 60,000 dry sheep equivalent, with potential to increase significantly with further irrigation development.
“The property features a combination of extensively developed improvements, high quality soil types, excellent climatic characteristics and outstanding operational infrastructure,” Mr Thomas said.
“The substantial ground water entitlement of almost 5000 megalitres offers the opportunity to undertake significant further development of the property, including conversion to alternative uses such as irrigated cropping or dairy,” Mr Thomas noted.
