Macquarie Asset Management has offered four large-scale arable farms from its Viridis Ag portfolio for sale.
The assets are located in the Northern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia and are collectively referred to as the Alcheringa Aggregation. They cover a total land area of 13,027 hectares, of which 72 percent (9,343 hectares) is agricultural land.
The four semi-contiguous holdings are the 3343ha Alcheringa tenement, the 1878ha Wandoo Park tenement, the 3183ha Moodjar Downs tenement and the 4623ha Victoria Springs tenement.
The assets are held in MAM’s 15-year closed-end Macquarie Agriculture Fund – Crop Australia, an investment vehicle that reached a final closing price of approximately A$1 billion in 2019. Clean Energy Finance Corporation is a prominent investor in the fund.
MAM is said to have made extensive improvements to its facilities, including soil improvement projects and other on-farm efficiency projects such as the upgrading of water boreholes and dams.
The company has also added or upgraded four residential buildings, three fertilizer halls, two machine halls, seasonal worker housing, a warehouse, grain storage and office space, all designed to allow the facilities to operate individually or as a single facility.
According to the sales prospectus, the farms are currently growing “high-yielding crops” such as wheat, rapeseed and pulses, producing yields of 1.63 tonnes per hectare for wheat, 1.44 t/ha for barley, 1.02 t/ha for rapeseed and 1.25 t/ha for lupins.
Assets include several on-site gravel pits used for internal lanes and roads. In addition to the land, various plant and equipment is also for sale.
Viridis Ag owns and operates 12 assets in Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia, including the Alcheringa Aggregation.
Agricultural investor reported at the time of the closure of the fund housing Viridis Ag’s assets that the fund’s objective is to improve farm energy efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, with a focus on reducing energy intensity per unit of production and achieving improved operational, financial and environmental efficiencies across its portfolio.
The company was founded to build a portfolio of diversified cultivation facilities across Australia.
LAWD will oversee the sales process through expressions of interest, which close on September 27, 2024.
