A $20 MILLION Torrumbarry farm sale has put dairy back in the headlines — but for the right reason.
The country’s biggest dairy farming operator — Australian Fresh Milk Holdings — has signed an undisclosed deal to acquire the 2051 ha Torrumbarry Estate, which was listed for about $20 million.
AFMH is understood to have picked up a further 810ha, made up of several holdings, of adjoining land as part of the biggest land deal in northern Victoria since the same company splashed out $46 million at Undera late last year.
It can also be seen as a massive vote of confidence inthe dairy industry that players on this scale are still prepared to invest, and invest big, in the industry.
Torrumbarry Station is the second major AFMH purchase in Victoria in the past year, having snapped up Coomboona Dairy at Undera, between Echuca and Shepparton, for $46 million.
AFMH is a partnership between the Moxey and Perich families, with Freedom Foods holding a 10 per cent stake.
Coomboona, which runs 2500 dairy cows producing about 30 million litres of milk annually, was previously owned by retail giant Harvey Norman but was placed in voluntary administration in March and failed to sell at auction in September.
Freedom has a specialty UHT plant in Shepparton which it is currently expanding and has been in the market for expanded milk supplies.
AFMH also has a large dairy operation in the Lachlan Valley 300 Kms west of Sydney and was reportedly forecast to produce more than 150 million litres of milk last year
It also operates the fully-integrated Moxey Farms dairy business at Gooloogong in central west NSW.
Torrumbarry Estate runs about 1100 dairy cows, includes about 800 ha of developed irrigation.
- With The Weekly Times