This 100.6ha (248.5acre) irrigated Burdekin property in North Queensland on the Bruce Highway is only 6km south of Home Hill and 11 km to Ayr. The Burdekin is Australia’s premier irrigation area with plentiful supplies of water from the Delta’s underground aquifer and the Burdekin Dam.

The farm was originally established as a Sugar Cane farm in the 1995 Sugar expansion and has grown approximately 9000 tonnes of cane annually. The vendor has recently diversified into other crops and has found the soils very suitable to grow hay crops supplying mainly the grazing industry with good quality feedstock and still producing about 3,000 tonnes of sugar cane. The 4′ x 3′ hay bales produced from excellent quality Rhodes Grass are highly recommended by the many clients serviced from the farm. This season he has replanted 104 acres of Plant cane and ratooning 40 acres of 1st ratoon and 18 acres of 2nd ratoon. This will produce an estimated 2018 Crop of 6,000 tonnes of cane and will still have over 60 acres of Rhodes gross for hay production.

The soils consist of mainly heavy black cracking clays with some areas of loam. Irrigation is supplied from three 6 Electric Turbine bore pumps, one centrifugal well pump and an open water pump with a 744 megalitre entitlement from the Burdekin River supplied by Lower Burdekin Water. The water can be mixed to supply the best quality water for efficiency and best penetration. Most of the pumps are interconnected by 12 & 15 polythene pipe with spaced gated outlets at all paddocks connected to plastic fluming. Changing irrigation batches is only a matter of opening and closing gates. The farm also has installed a 7 Meg recycling pit collecting tail water.

The farm is in the Lower Burdekin Water area of the Delta which is self managed by a board of grower and miller ratepayers. As the 2016/17 schedule of rates and charges indicate, growers pay a rate of $132.63 per ha for irrigated cultivated area with no limit on water drawn from the aquifer. If Sugar Cane is grown the miller subsidises the area charge by $41.88 per ha. Open water supplied by the boards southern replenishment system is however charged at $14.89 per megalitre above the area charge for the growers open water entitlement.

There is a large range of tractors and implements which will be included in the sale. (machinery list on request). The large 9 Bay shed 54m x 20m x 6m clearance including two 12m locked shipping containers for storage is included in the sale at well below replacement cost but the vendor is open to selling without the shed if preferred. It is fitted with heavy duty lighting and 3 phase power supplied from a 100 kw pole transformer near the shed. Part of the shed has concrete floor and a kitchen and living area with mezzanine floor for extra living area expansion if required.

All paddocks are laser levelled, border checked and well drained and could easily be converted to rice growing. Since Sunrice have moved to the district and established a depot and mill many growers are successfully producing rice alongside sugar cane with the industry increasing production each year with some totally converting to rice growing.

The Burdekin has excellent road and rail links to the west which could make this property an excellent enterprise to drought proof a large holding in another area. The vendor has decided it’s time to make the break with a selling price way below current Burdekin values.Call today for more information or to arrange an inspection.