WELL-KNOWN Victorian Angus and Charolais stud, Welcome Swallow, will undergo a herd dispersal next month after the 850 hectare property Illalangi, near Benalla, was sold to a Chinese family.
The property was purchased for an undisclosed amount, and the Chinese family also bought the neighbouring 404ha property, Exford Park.
"The decision to sell is bittersweet - we are excited, we are frightened and we are sad," Welcome Swallow co-principal Suzy Martin said.
"It is mixed emotions, and it like what John Lennon says, 'life is what happens when you are busy making other plans'.
"We don't have children ourselves so it was inevitable we would sell at some point in time but we thought that point in time was way off.
"When we got this opportunity we weighed up the pluses and minuses at our stage in life and thought, who wouldn't take up an opportunity to reinvent themselves and move on?"
It is unknown whether the Chinese family will continue the property as a beef operation, or whether they will be targeting the export market back in to China where they own businesses. Mrs Martin said the family were visiting the property on Monday to finalise operational questions.
It is expected long-term stud manager Brett Walker will be employed as operational manager.
While the Chinese investors showed interest in acquiring the stud operation, Mrs Martin said language barriers and distance saw these negotiations fall through.
"Jim and I felt positive that the operation will become 50 per cent bigger, not smaller (through subdivision), and this is positive because we know it is needed for greater scale and to be viable particularly for a commercial operations," she said.
"It is wonderful to see a family rather than a corporation because we feel a family investment was the best business model for maintain a property like this."
Illalangi was purchased by Jim Martin's parents in 1948. The stud was established in 1994 on a foundation of Victoree, Thologolong and Glen Bold females and has grown from 70 head to the current stud herd of more than 500.
The Martins are continuing discussions with the purchasers on when the 2014 maiden heifers will be offered to the market with the dispersal expected to be complete following the 2016 spring bull sale in 2016 featuring the 2014 Bull calves.
The property settlement will be finalised in September with Michael Glasser from GTSM conducting the first dispersal of all HBR and APR Angus cows and recipients PTIC, on Friday July 17, from 10am.
This sale will feature all 300 Angus females PTIC to start calving in mid-August as well as embryo and semen packages.
