THE Salter family has sold its 3340-acres grazing property Doughboy Mountain, north-east of Armidale, NSW, to family agricultural business, T.A. Field Estates for $7.65 million.
The breeding and backgrounding property about 120 kilometres west of Coffs Harbour has a capacity for 1000 females with dry-sheep equivalent levels of 16,000 in winter and 21,000 in summer.
The property atop the Doughboy Mountain Range drew a crowd of nearly 100 people at its auction at the Armidale Golf Club last Friday.
There were 14 registered bidders but the race for the "strikingly beautiful" pasture property with a red meat production powerhouse came down to two bidders.
"There was a lot of interest from local farming groups and local buyers. There were few foreigners," agent Landmark Harcourts' Bruce Rutherford said.
"The price was a little short of expectations but the vendor wanted to sell."
The Salter family wanted to consolidate their business as they have reached that "time in their cycle", Mr Rutherford said.
Located at 2224 Wongwibinda Road, Wongwibinda, the property is at an elevation of 1300 to 1495 metres above sea level and was one of the first pasture improved properties in the New England area with a soil enrichment program. Doughboy Mountain has fresh stock water and a four-bedroom family home with vertical Tallow wood exterior walls and timber floors.
The home comes with a clay tennis court and a second cottage. Cattle yards are solid timber with nine-metre steel "V" race and vet crush under cover. The woolshed is an Enterac-designed 4-stand electric shed built in 1991. Accessing the property by air is suitable as it has a 700 metre airstrip.
At the same auction, T.A. Field Estates also bought the 1337-acre property adjoining Doughboy Mountain, Miragulee, at 2125 Wongwibinda Road for $2.75 million.
The property, which needed a capital injection, has basalt soils and an established pasture base. On site is a four-bedroom home, wool shed and timber cattle yards.