AN intensively developed irrigated leucaena property on the North Queensland coast has set a benchmark for country established to the nutritious browse legume, selling for the equivalent of about $14,500/ha.

Karinya is a 344ha property formerly used for mango tree cropping in the Whitsunday region, 7km north of Gumlu and 38km south of Ayr, below the Burdekin River.

The holding has been developed from scratch since 2017 by former Cattle Council of Australia president Greg Brown and his wife Judy and family. Around 275ha is well established to the high-performing recently-released Redlands leucaena variety, feraturing frost resistance, psyllid resistance and palatability.

Beef Central used the Karinya property as a case study in this recent property analysis on the value that the presence of leucaena can have on grazing property values.

The deep-rooted tropical browse legume provides a strong drought mitigation tool, as well as substantially lifting carrying capacity.

What set the Karinya property apart from most leucaena establishments is that virtually the entire holding was established to the browse legume. In most other development examples, leucaena represents only a portion – often a small portion – of a larger grass grazing property.

Karinya was sold for close to the pre-sale guidance of $5 million, representing a value of around $14,500/ha. The property is in a location mostly used for intensive irrigated row cropping (rockmelons, tomatoes, capsicums) or tree crops like mangoes.

The buyer remains undisclosed, but was described as a local cattle producer with country in the nearby Collinsville district, who plans to use Karinya for backgrounding.

During the expressions of interest campaign, Colliers agent Jimmy Ashleigh reported strong interest from neighbours and locals, as well as larger landowners around the Charters Towers region looking for a cattle growing and finishing depot. Co-agent, Bram Pollock from Prophurst, reported five written offers resulting from seven inspections.

Significantly, the majority of firm offers came from cattle interests, rather than row-crop farmers, Beef Central was told.

Cattle on Karinya, south of Ayr in North Queensland

Redlands psyllid-tolerant forage legume was developed specifically for Northern Australia by the University of Queensland and Meat & Livestock Australia, allowing the property to conservatively run 420 Adult Equivalents on 57ha of improved pasture.

Vendor Greg Brown said leucaena had both environmental and productivity benefits.

“Redlands leucaena not only supports high cattle liveweight gains but also reduces cattle methane emissions by 20 percent, contributing to environmental sustainability,” he said.

Mr Ashleigh said the Karinya block attracted a ‘value add’ compared to other similar properties that have sold locally.

The property’s water infrastructure was described as impressive, and includes a 300ML water harvesting licence, a 150ML irrigation dam with potential expansion to 500ML and a 5km underground irrigation network. Multiple pumps and seven unequipped registered bores also ensure a reliable water year-round supply.

Infrastructure includes a five-bedroom home, a second residence currently rented, numerous sheds, cattle yards, cold rooms and molasses storage.

Prophurst’s Bram Pollock and Colliers Agribusiness’s Jimmy Ashleigh handled the expressions of interest campaign.