The 1278-hectare North Star cropping property Leyland is up for sale for the first time ever and vendor Ranald Mitchell hopes his legacy will be a green one.
One thing's for certain: he will pass the land on in better shape than he found it.
Mr Mitchell has farmed Leyland, south of Goondiwindi, for almost 70 years after his father drew it as a prickly pear lease in 1935 and handed the reins over to his son nine years later.
"This area is often referred to as the Golden Triangle, the 'golden' is okay because you're harvesting a crop but, for a healthier environment, you need green," Mr Mitchell said.
To that end, Mr Mitchell and wife Jennifer have been conservation farming for decades and, in the last 15 years, used only natural fertilisers like worm leachate while minimising their use of herbicides and pesticides.
To improve the soil, he's been maintaining good ground cover, removing contour banks and adding a lot of legumes into the rotation.
Wheat, barley, faba beans and chickpeas are grown in winter, followed by sorghum, mung beans and cowpeas in summer.
Mr Mitchell said the strategy had paid off with an improvement in the structure of the soft reddish loam and black self-mulching soils, along with a more sustainable financial performance.
"We haven't always got the top yield but the inputs have been lower," he said.
It also made for more resilient crops.
"For instance, we're selling sorghum at the moment that's had a lot of rain on it but it hasn't washed the weight out of it or the or the protein out of it," Mr Mitchell said.
About 1079ha of the property is currently cultivated. The remaining 199ha supports access roads and service areas, as well as shelter that includes 16ha of trees held in a bio-conservation trust.
There was still plenty of opportunity to build on the Mitchells' success.
Testing showed soil carbon levels were as low as 0.9 per cent in some paddocks, while undisturbed areas of the farm returned 3.3pc.
"We're farming with less than a third of the soil organic carbon that was originally here and every gram of carbon holds 8g of water or 8g of nutrients, so it's a very important part of soil fertility," Mr Mitchell said.
Water on Leyland is supplied under the Currumbah capped and piped bore scheme and the bore head is located on an adjoining property within 1km of the watering points.
There's a five-bedroom, two-bathroom homestead, workshop and machinery sheds, grain shed and eight silos with a total 1392 tonne capacity, 25t drive-over hopper with elevator, and a set of cattle yards.
Expressions of interest close on July 7 and Ray White agent Tim Gleeson said the lack of recent comparable sales made price guidance difficult but "$3500 to $4000 an acre" was likely.
At 3158ac, that would see Leyland attract offers in the $11 million to $12.6m range.
Call Mr Gleeson on 0407 111 775.