Auscott seeks bids for Moree's Midkin, possibly worth $300m

US-owned Auscott has decided to officially seek out expressions of interest for its vertically integrated farming and ginning business, north of Moree.

The company won't disclose how much previous informal offers have been worth, but industry speculation has valued the North West NSW portfolio, a significant vertically integrated agribusinesses, at $300 million-plus.

Strong investor demand for large scale, well developed farmland with good irrigation capacity in one of the state's best agricultural districts has been hard to ignore.

"It's one of the larger aggregations in the region and it is rare to find something of this size with quality infrastructure," said Auscott managing director, Ashley Power.

"The large investor groups and funds want size."

However, Mr Power has ruled out talking about selling any of the company's other farming, processing or marketing assets in the Namoi, Macquarie and Murrumbidgee valleys.

"We are not seeking interest for any of our other properties. We don't want any callers," he said.

"We remain very much part of the cotton industry in Australia and continue to be committed to it.

"It's purely a case of acknowledging the price indications received for Midkin have been so strong and repeated we should at least consider what that interest is really worth."

Mr Power said the potential sale of the Gwydir Valley operations was not an overnight decision.

"It's a big consideration. It has been going on for some time," he said.

There was no guarantee the aggregation would be sold, especially if offers, due by September 4, were not what the company expected in the wake of earlier discussions with local and overseas interests.

Auscott would potentially consider options for the land and its Ashley gin site to sell separately.

The advanced ginning business has capacity to handle at least 200,000 bales a year.

Midkin, one of the earliest cotton farming ventures in the Gwydir Valley, was the third farming operation established by Auscott in 1979 and now encompasses six properties.

It includes 42,800 megalitres of general security water and 14,800Ml of supplementary water entitlements, and employs about 30 staff.

The aggregation covers 12,372ha of arable land with 7647ha fully developed for irrigation which produced "a pretty solid cotton result last summer".

About 3200ha is prepared for a 2019-20 cotton crop.

Midkin also normally grows cereals and chickpeas.

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Auscott, established in the nearby Namoi Valley at Narrabri in 1963, by the Arizona-based Boswell family, expanding to the Macquarie at Warren four years later where it now operates two gins.

In 2015 the company's began processing cotton from its most recent farmland and 11th ginning investment in the Lower Murrumbidgee near Hay.

Although briefly owned by Consolidated Press Holdings in the 1980s, Auscott is still run by the JG Boswell Company with about 180 permanent employees.

Staff numbers double in peak harvest and ginning periods.

Now based in California and reputedly operating the world's largest privately owned farm, the Boswell company's US enterprise grows cotton, wheat, lucerne and vegetable crops on 55,000ha in Kings County.

Mr Power said Auscott was always looking for expansion opportunities in Australia and funds from any successful Midkin sale could be directed into new agricultural operations.

However, it was currently unlikely to be tempted to extend its cotton pioneering spirit to northern Australia, where recent industry activity has been underway.

He said drought and recent concerns about declining water availability in the Murray Darling basin had not prompted the decision to take Midkin to the market.

"Auscott has been operating in Australia for 56 years and we've seen many droughts before now and will see more in the future," he said.

"We began considering this option before the current seasonal situation."

He said the company greatly valued its long-established place within the community, its employees and market and ginning relationships with grower customers.

"With this in mind, the business is being offered as a going concern."

The sale process is being led by PwC, which late last year co-ordinated the $200m sale Temora-based grain logistics and farming business BFB to Canada's largest superannuation fund, Public Sector Pension Investments (PSP).