The large, high rainfall Upton Farms holding would always have attracted attention but its perfectionistic, plain-speaking, high-profile vendor has taken it up a notch, creating what agents describe as "model farms".
It's more than real estate hype. Benchmarking consultancy firm Agripath ranks Upton Farms number one for feed grown, conversion of feed grown, and income per hectare per 100 millimetres of rainfall.
Mr Upton said the farms were well positioned for profitability.
"They're in the best part of the New England, high productivity, high rainfall, high-fertility soils, highly improved, every inch is in production," he said.
"If well managed, we can get our costs back to a number that would probably give us an operating return of 7, 8, maybe 10 per cent, if things continue pretty well."
Innovation driven
The success has been driven by Mr Upton's pursuit of profit through innovation.
"Return on capital is so important and what you do with it once you've made it is another issue," Mr Upton said.
"I tend to put it back into the properties, which is tax deductible and has, at the same time, achieved remarkable profitability," he said.
"We use the latest pastures, fertilisers, we're running it like a dairy farmer does so there's always feed ahead of the cattle.
"It's very easy to manage. We run our operation with three extremely capable, terrific guys."
Regular trials are held at Upton Farms and experimenting with pasture species had allowed the enterprise to put more weight on Euro-cross steers than ever before.
The current trial at Upton Farms involves a new fescue variety. Mr Upton said the property was sown with fescues for warm-season production and a ryegrass-clover mix for cooler conditions.
Normally, he fattens 6000 steers producing 1.8 million kilograms of beef a year but said his latest agronomic breakthroughs will increase stocking rates again.
"From October this year, given average seasons, I believe the operation will run 7000 steers at an entry weight of 400kg (2.8million kg total) to fatten into high weight steers," Mr Upton said.
Not Angus
It's a different business model to most. While Angus cattle dominate Australia's southern beef industry, Mr Upton generally avoids the breed.
"Most Angus are geared for feedlotting," he said.
"Although feedlots pay more in cents a kilo, they generally like lighter cattle and weight beats rate in our operation.
"You can purchase European-cross cattle at a lower price than Angus cattle. We keep the Euro-crosses a few more months to reach heavier weights and they make an extra $500-$800."
Fewer, heavier cattle, he said, meant lower transaction costs and higher profits.
Model farms
That innovation is matched with a fastidiousness selling agent Meares & Associates chief executive Chris Meares sees in the paddocks.
"I've never seen 6500 acres so even in terms of pastures," he said.
"The whole place is immaculate, from the houses to the fences to the yards. I've very few weeds on it, the old sheds you might see on most farms or even fallen boughs. They really are extraordinary model farms."
Time to move on
Mr Upton has lost none of his energy and passion for farming but while he still felt "35 on the inside", he said the sale was unavoidable.
"I've invested an enormous amount of money over a long time," he said.
"It's been the heart and soul of my life, driving this business forward and I've reached a stage in life where I've got to capitalize on it.
"Everything is pretty beautiful around us, but I just can't keep doing what I've been doing forever.
"If I don't make the move to sell now, somebody else will have to make it, maybe at some future date, and they won't get the same results I can."
Land still 'cheap'
The property had grown significantly in value and Mr Upton said he expected that to continue. If he was 35 years old again now, he said, he would buy more land.
"I think our country will continue to appreciate at an even faster rate for many many years to come," he said.
"It's frightening what people pay for land overseas, like in New Zealand. Land is still relatively cheap in Australia and it's just not utilised as much as it should."
Meares & Associates is marketing the aggregation at Niangala, as a whole or in four separate lots. Its online auction will open on April 14 and close the following day.
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Marian Macdonald
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
