Longhurst's and Springgully
875.61 ha (2162 Acres)
Boramin and Mulukine Road
Grass Valley
Opportunity to purchase excellent landholding known as Longhurst's and Springgully. With the successful purchases having first refusal on the adjoining 446.7 hectares. This property is quality premium country having excellent strong soil types and being of undulating elevated topography.
Longhurst's and Springgully the purchaser will find, is farming at its most convenient due to its close proximity to Northam,10km, Midland, 90km and the Muchea livestock center 80 km. Servicing machinery and accessing inputs and sheep markets is far easier than other areas, reducing costs and labor units. The Avon CBH receival site is 12 Km from the farm and Meenar is 7km.
The 2 properties adjoin each other in the locality of Grass Valley, Northam shire. There are 3 road frontages, 4 scheme water points, power through a large section of the area with a transformer installed at one point ready for connection if so desired.
A large re vegetation program was undertaken in the 1990s. Any creek lines that were degraded or unable to be cropped, were replanted to trees. These trees are now mature and help reduce damaging wind speeds.
The undulating nature of this farm land combined with the vegetation mentioned above makes this area a very low frost risk area. Only one major frost causing yield loss has been recorded in the last 12 years of farming. This was in 2016. It is estimated that 1t ha of wheat was lost. The average wheat yield in that year on this farm was still 3.4t ha. 100% yield losses like the eastern wheatbelt don't occur in this area.
Soil types are red loams and heavy red clays- no requirement for expensive claying operations here.! All areas of the farm have neutral to alkaline ph levels ideal for cropping after heavy lime applications in the early 2000's, followed by a maintenance top up of 1t/ha every third year of the rotation.
Fencing is ringlock with iron posts throughout. 10 paddocks make up the cropping area and there are 3 additional paddocks around non cropping areas that are used to run sheep. All have water connected by scheme or dams and spring feed soaks.
A conservative approach to crop rotations is in place on these farms. 250 ha of cropping area is in a 1 year in 1 year out sub clover cereal rotation. This area makes up 3 paddocks. Grasses are eliminated in the clover phase in preparation for the cereal. The rest of the area is cropped roughly 3 years in a row with a mix of cereals, lupins and canola. If the weed burden gets too high the paddock is left out for one year and chemical fallowed. In the chemical fallow stage sheep are run at a light stocking rate of 3DSE in addition to the chemical applications that take place.
The prospective buyer of these properties will capitalize on a higher than normal area that has been left out of cropping in 2022. The current owner reduced the 2022 cropping area in response to high fertilizer prices at the start of 2022. Currently there is 348 ha of chemical fallow area and 166 ha coming off clover manipulation available to crop in 2023.
The remaining area for sale has 115 ha of canola on it now and the rest of the area is sown to wheat.
The 12 year rainfall average for this farm is 342 mm per year. In this period the average wheat yield has been 3t ha and barley 3.4t ha. Canola and Lupins are not grown every year depending on the economics of the crop. A range of yields for these crops over the last 12 years is 600 kg/ha canola - 2.3t ha in 2021.
Lupins 700kg /ha to 2.3t ha in 2021. Wheat in 2021 delivered an average yield of 4.62 t /ha.
For further information please contact Phil Becker on 0412 578 429