Agents refresh selling tactics for iconic South Australian grazing property

They have opened up the sale to walk-in walk-out offers plus bids for pieces of the multi-farm property.

The aggregation (4360 hectares, 10,775 acres) attracted a lot of attention when it first came onto the market last August in an expressions of interest campaign.

Now agents from Colliers Agribusiness are opening up the sale to individual negotiation.

"With improved livestock prices, stabilising interest rates and favourable seasonal conditions, it is an opportune time for prospective purchasers to acquire one of the regions' iconic properties," agents said with the relaunch.

"Prospective purchasers are invited to submit offers for all or parts of Fairview, or alternatively on a walk-in walk-out basis including land and improvements, water entitlements, livestock and plant and equipment," they said.

No suggested price has yet been offered for one of the biggest grazing properties in the South East, located about 40km west of Naracoorte.

When first announcing Fairview's sale last year agents expected it to attract national and corporate interest.

"The sale presents a once in a generation opportunity to secure a landholding with unparalleled scale and further development potential," agents said.

Access to underground water for irrigation and reliable 600mm average rainfall has seen some stellar farm prices paid in the Lucindale district in the past two years.

With Fairview, buyers can take advantage of a two decade-long pasture improvement program to become self-sufficient in year-round stock feed requirements.

The big acreage produces all the hay and grain needed for the self-replacing cattle herd of Black Angus and Angus/Black Simmental cross cows, and predominantly Merino ewe flock utilising Suffolk and Dorset rams for its crossbred enterprise.

The farm manager and agents say recent stocking rates are modest compared with district averages.

Fairview's owners have operated in a conservative fashion and transitioned from a certified organic model to conventional farming a decade ago.

Fairview is the amalgamation of six contiguous properties the owner has accumulated in the past 25 years including Old Fairview, Lantara, Wombalano, Keys, Watson's and Mickan's.

Fairview farm manager Marc Dupree last year said there was "significant potential" to further increase the overall carrying capacity of the property through further pasture improvement and soil redevelopment.

"When I arrived at Fairview in 2004, the place was running over 14,000 sheep and around 1000 Hereford/Simmental cross beef breeders," Mr Dupree said.

"Since then we have dropped to an average annual stocking of around 25,000 DSE while some of the country has been out of production for our pasture and soil improvement projects.

"Now that most of the farm is back in production and with the potential to improve more pastures and ground, we are currently under-stocked and also have the potential to increase numbers significantly moving forward."

Fairview consists of flat to gently undulating grazing country with large areas of improved pastures and areas suited to cropping.

There is about 25ha of flood irrigation with a 1053 megalitre water licence plus a strong fertiliser history.

Held across six titles, improvements include four homes, three shearing sheds, extensive hay and grain storage, multiple sets of sheep yards and cattle yards, horse stables, workshops and implement sheds.

As well as returning to conventional methods since its transition from organic farming, Fairview's owners have also undertaken extensive soil redevelopment projects across the property in recent years.

Those projects included deep ripping sub-surface rock in the plains country for pasture roots to access clay, as well as claying the lighter hills country to increase moisture retention capacity of those soils.

For more information contact the agents at Colliers - Jesse Manuel on 0421 550242 or Tim Altschwager on 0408 814699.