A big farm aggregation owned by the Shanahan family in the Upper Mid North is going to auction next month to help set the tone for the spring sales.
The Shanahans have made a strategic decision to offload the four-farm Wild Dog Creek aggregation near Melrose in the lower Flinders Ranges they first bought into in 2005.
Agents for Ray White South Australia say the aggregation offers scale at 1143 hectares (2824 acres) "very rarely offered in this highly regarded farming region of SA".
The auction will be held at the Melrose Town Hall at 2pm on Thursday, September 14.
The aggregation could be bought in one lot or across the these four farms with views of Mount Remarkable.
They are - Wild Dog Creek (368ha, 910 acres), Rookhatt 68ha (168 acres), Sanders 257ha (635 acres), The Plains 449.5ha (1111 acres).
Tom Shanahan is a fifth-generation farmer who began working his family's farm in Freeling, bordering the Barossa Valley.
He and wife Carolyn manage the farm business called Hillsview Props Farming which bought the original Wild Dogs Creek and they later bought and leased more farm country in the area.
Their business is involvement in hay production and contracting, grain sales and storage.
The business also produces straw for chicken sheds under contract.
The Shanahans also run an Australia-wide transport business.
Up for auction next month are the four non-contingent properties in the Melrose area, 260km north of Adelaide.
Agents say the district is highly recognised for its suitability and flexibility to broad enterprise options including growing cereals, oil seeds, legumes, hay production, prime lamb and wool production.
The Shanahan's aggregation focuses on integration from broadacre cropping and hay production benefiting from scale, operational efficiency, fertile soils and strategic location within close proximity to markets.
Improvements across the aggregation include lots of machinery, hay and fertiliser sheds.
There is also a shearing shed with attached yards, a weighbridge, substantial rain water storage, grain storage, feedlot and a manager's residence.
Agents say the owners have adopted leading agronomic practices including variable rate fertiliser application and minimum tillage.
For more information contact Daniel Schell on 0415 436379 or Geoff Schell 0418 842421.
Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
