One of the nation’s most outstanding ‘shovel-ready’ horticultural development opportunities, the 6,298ha Sandmount Farms Portfolio in Victoria’s Murray Valley region, is now presented by Land, Agribusiness, Water and Development (LAWD) for sale by international expressions of interest.

A globally significant, investment-grade portfolio, Sandmount Farms is strategically located 45km north of Shepparton at Katunga, close to labour markets, infrastructure and processing, and is underwritten by rare scale and unparalleled water security. This includes more than 50,000ML of water entitlements, approximately 28,000ML of which are high-security water, to make it the largest water portfolio in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District, and one of the most sizeable in the southern Murray-Darling Basin.

Vendor, goFARM, aggregated the portfolio of predominantly former dairy holdings, through more than 70 individual land and water rights transactions since 2018, following a nationwide search for climate-secure horticultural opportunities. Valued at more than $250 million, the existing development includes the establishment of more than 200ha of almonds and 70ha of seedless mandarins as proof of concept, while the balance of land is currently utilised for irrigated and rainfed row cropping of corn, barley, wheat, canola and faba bean production.

Of the total land area, approximately 4,000ha is suited to horticultural production and the balance, approximately 1,500ha, to row crops, positioning Sandmount Farms to be one of the most significant aggregations in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, when fully developed.

LAWD Senior Director, Danny Thomas, said at its current development stage, with approvals and designs in place, the highly versatile land and water portfolio would attract institutions and large corporate investors in search of a venture with an accelerated timeline.

“Sandmount Farms presents a generational opportunity to secure a large-scale portfolio, with the time, risk and cost associated with aggregating, planning and delivering an asset of this size, already handled by goFARM in the early development phases,” Mr Thomas said.

“goFARM has accomplished its investment goal to ready Sandmount Farms for development into a world-class horticultural production hub, supported by unparalleled access to water, labour, markets and infrastructure, and now estimates a further $200M, or $50,000/ha, in investment is required to capture its full value.

“The portfolio’s sophisticated water delivery system, positioned in a high-security water zone, above the Murray River bottleneck, the Barmah Choke, leverages a number of channels that have undergone a $2 billion Federal Government upgrade. In addition to surface water, the site has access to a regulated and well-managed groundwater resource, courtesy of the Katunga Deep Lead Aquifer.

“goFARM has done an outstanding job in bringing together the right land, water entitlements, technology and people to prepare the Sandmount Farms Portfolio for the step change in production, earnings and capital that will be achieved with an injection of new investment.”

Awarded the Australian Property Institute’s 2021 Innovation in Property Award for innovative and sustainable development, the portfolio of predominately sandy loam soils has undergone extensive soil amelioration and capital improvement over the course of its transformation from dairy production to irrigated cropping, in readiness for further development to permanent horticulture, including nuts, citrus and tree fruits.

goFARM Managing Director, Liam Lenaghan, said Sandmount Farms was the result of the future-focused, strategic acquisition of assets to create scale and water security rarely seen in global primary production.

“Incumbent horticultural growing regions are increasingly facing water access and delivery issues, increasing climate-induced stress, such as heat stress and declining chill units, and labour shortages,” Mr Lenaghan said.

“Through our research we identified this region, and the properties that now sit within the Sandmount Farms Portfolio, as the best in Australia for addressing these issues and sustainably growing high-value crops now, and into the future.

“goFARM’s focus is on being the catalyst for transformation in Australian agriculture. We are the first money in and take the greatest risk position to demonstrate production and earnings potential of assets and regions with the goal to provide the confidence for others to invest. If we can do that, then it’s good for the region, good for the industry and good for Australia.

“In the case of Sandmount Farms Portfolio, major investment has been made in detailed land capability assessments, the delivery of an independent climate and horticultural review, extensive planning and design to de-risk and accelerate future development and building a capable team that can execute the project. The time is now right to open up this landmark project to a new pool of equity capital to realise its full potential.”

Mr Lenaghan said, with additional assets in the Goulbourn Murray Irrigation District, goFARM was committed to the region and would welcome the opportunity to be engaged to deliver against its long-term vision for the Sandmount Farms Portfolio, offering an accelerated development path with capability and capacity in place, but understood some parties may wish to assume that responsibility themselves.

“This is a strategically smart project, in a region that isn’t inhibited by the issues that can often arise around sustainable food production, such as people, communities, water and climate.

“Shepparton is a fabulous regional centre, which is already experiencing exciting growth supported by new schools, a new hospital and a new art museum. If we can contribute to job creation and economic activity in the region then that’s enormously satisfying.”

The information memorandum will be released 7 March 2022 with Expression of Interests closing on Friday 29 April 2022. For more information contact Danny Thomas, +61 439 349 977.