Sydney, 3 May 2022: Agricultural real estate investment company, Packhorse Pastoral Company (Australia) Limited, has acquired the 10,029-hectare South East Queensland property, Moolan Downs Aggregation bringing the total assets under management in the company to $104 million in under 12 months.
The latest addition to the company’s portfolio is located in the Western Downs region of Queensland, approximately 160 km south west of Dalby and 200 km south east of Roma and comprises four properties, Moolan Downs, Cressy, Allambee and Old Southwood, three of which are Australian Certified Organic (ACO) and US National Organic Program certified for cattle.
Geoff Murrell, Managing Director of Packhorse Investments Australia Pty Ltd confirmed that the property was purchased off-market and provides an exceptional opportunity to implement Packhorse’s regenerative practices.
“We’ve purchased a magnificent turn key operation at great value with solid infrastructure and sixty existing paddocks allowing for rotational grazing. We’re currently running 5,000 backgrounding cattle for an offtake partner, with a target to increase carrying capacity to 8,000 by 2027,” said Murrell.
“Our Grass Motel model allows us to prioritise the land and animal impact is a crucial factor. It’s a symbiotic relationship, we utilise the cattle we host to mow, fertilise and produce a seed bed to help embed legumes and other deep-rooted plantings in the earth to increase the microbiome, all the while growing higher yielding protein to help support and secure global food supply.
“What is really exciting is that our partner Carbon Link, has identified more than 90 percent of the land as suitable for soil carbon sequestration projects, which could offer a significant potential carbon credit trading income upside for investors,” added Murrell.
On Tuesday 3 May, Packhorse officially opens its next offer to invest. The capital raise will fund the purchase of two outstanding properties in New South Wales and expedite the regeneration of the landscape. Located in the Coonamble and Inverell regions, the properties are completely aligned to the company’s strict acquisition criteria, with regional average annual rainfall in excess of 487mm and 690mm respectively and a high percentage of clay based soils.
Packhorse Chair, Tim Samway, said the company is enthusiastic about the upcoming capital raise. At a time of political uncertainty, rising inflation, volatility in the stock market and a climate change crisis, wholesale and institutional investors are looking for the security offered by real assets. This makes Packhorse’s environmentally focussed property play and the unique way the company maximises returns very appealing.
“There has never been a more opportune time to offer investors an asset class that produces returns on so many levels, while creating positive environmental impact at scale,” said Samway.
“ESG is at the top of the agenda, with investors seeking robust opportunities backed with data driven evidence of landscape improvements and carbon capture. Our in-house head of ESG and principal scientist Dr. Elaine Mitchell is working with industry peers and experts to ensure that we can deliver on all these criteria and we are proud to be involved in the co-development of technology to speed up this process.
“All properties in Stage 1 of the company’s $300m acquisition pipeline are expected to be registered in soil carbon sequestration projects, presenting investors with exposure to Australian Carbon Credit Units and the potential return these will generate,” added Samway. “Early investors will also benefit greatly from the exploding capital growth we are seeing in rural ag-land.”
Packhorse is on track to accumulate 2 million hectares of land within 5-10 years with the land acquisition target area spanning from Cloncurry in Queensland to the Victorian border.
The third round of funding is open until 29 July 2022. The Information Memorandum can be requested at https://packhorse.net.au/pastoral-fund/
