New South Wales stud Merino breeders, the Phillips family, are offering one of their premium livestock and cropping properties for sale, after purchasing additional land closer to their home base at Harden.

The ‘Castle Hill’ aggregation of three properties at Baldry, 84km from Orange and 44km from Parkes, encompasses 1758.4 hectares (4,345 acres) and runs 15-16,000 DSE, and is currently stocked with 4000 Merino ewes and 250 Angus cows.

Steve, Liz, Sam and Georgia Phillips operate a large-scale grazing enterprise across holdings in the Harden, Yass, Monaro and Gundagai districts, including the highly regarded Yarrawonga Merino Stud.

Steve Phillips said they were fortunate to aggregate ‘Castle Hill’ during 2001 after first securing the original ‘Castle Hill’ property and ‘Mountain View’, before adding the adjoining ‘Fairy Mount’ a few months later.

“We’d driven around the district and this property was a standout with its very reliable annual rainfall of 650mm throughout the year and strong red soils – around 80-90% of it is arable so you can do pretty much anything with it. There is also potential to further increase productivity with greater fertiliser use or the development of grazing land to farming,” Mr Phillips said.

During the past 22 years, the family has installed extensive fencing, renewed sheepyards, and cropped wheat, oats and canola for both grazing and grain harvest. A moderate elevation of 440 metres above mean sea level provides an excellent climatic base for winter crop and improved pasture production.

Today, the property features 300 tonnes of grain storage, as well as two large homesteads, two shearing sheds and sheepyards, cattle yards, bull sheds, and hay and machinery storage facilities.

Water is supplied from several bores through a comprehensive reticulated water system supported by dams and Rocky Ponds Creek. An extensive Landcare tree planting program in the 1990s has enhanced the landscape and provides protection for livestock.

LAWD Senior Director, Col Medway, said he expected the variety of operational options offered by the aggregation to attract widespread interest.

“This is a blue-ribbon property in a very safe district with the potential to either expand cropping area by developing grazing land or maintain the current focus on livestock production with supplementary fodder crops,” Mr Medway said.

“The aggregation also benefits from extensive road frontage, providing opportunities for buyers to purchase the property in smaller parcels or as a whole, making it a compelling offering for all sections of the market.

“The Phillips’ long-term manager is also available to remain in place, providing the option for a seamless transition to new ownership.”