Merredin Farms portfolio: Wheatbelt shires optimistic as WA’s biggest aggregation sells to locals

WA’s largest farm aggregation — estimated to be worth about $200 million — has been returned to local hands after five years of foreign ownership in a move welcomed by Eastern Wheatbelt farm leaders.

Industry and community members said this week they hoped the sale of the mega Merredin Farms portfolio to a group of six Wheatbelt farmers — including John Nicoletti — would mean more people living and working locally.

“We see it as a positive in terms of maintaining our agricultural heritage and maintaining families within the area as well,” Shire of Merredin chief executive Craig Watts said.

“It’s not a corporation that’s managing it, it’s (local) people who I suppose have more investment, so they will be living in the town, they will volunteer in terms of things like bushfire brigades.”

The farm’s former owner, WA grainpin kingpin Mr Nicoletti, confirmed he was one of the buyers among whom the 78,000ha aggregation — covering more than one-tenth the size of the Perth metropolitan area — had been broken up.

Mr Nicoletti confirmed he had bought the biggest portion of the land but declined to comment on the price or size, saying it was “a lot of land and a lot of money”.

“I was the biggest buyer out of six buyers… by far the biggest,” he said.

Mr Nicoletti revealed an interview process was under way to recruit farm staff, with the team expected to include new hires as well as staff who had been working for former owner Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company Australia.

He said he would retain seven or eight full time staff and hire casuals for harvest and seeding.

While Mr Nicoletti was reticent to reveal much more about the sale, he also revealed SALIC had offered the parcel of land to local farmers as a priority.

“It is not in my interest to say too much or nothing at all,” Mr Nicoletti said.

“But they (SALIC) is a global company, a huge company, and they wanted to exit.

“They gave the opportunity to neighbours and some took it, and some didn’t. And I did.”

CONVOLUTED HISTORY

Mr Nicoletti and wife Julie initially aggregated 200,000ha of leasehold and freehold country, which they sold to SALIC in 2019 for $70m.

Parts of the Merredin Farms portfolio — SALIC’s first Australian acquisition — were subsequently sold, with WA-based investor PenAgri purchasing a stake in the downsized 78,000ha operation.

It went back on the market in late 2023 before being split into two aggregations last September, in a bid to attract smaller buyers after a lack of interest from international investors.

The portfolio was then listed in two portions — the 37,553ha Bodallin Aggregation and the 40,401ha Warralakin Aggregation — which jointly comprise numerous titles in the North Bodallin district.

The total portfolio includes more than 66,000ha of arable land and is regarded WA’s biggest corporate broadacre landholding.

While the sale price has not been revealed, if realised, $200m would be the most paid for a farm in WA history.

Selling agent Colliers Agribusiness declined to comment on the sale.

‘NO REGRETS’

Mr Nicoletti said he had no reservations selling to the Saudi-operated company in 2019 and definitely did not regard himself as a “hero” for helping return the aggregation to local hands five years later.

“They (SALIC) brought a lot of capital into the country, they spent a lot of money, and now people are saying I am a ‘hero’ for buying part of it back,” he said.

“That is simply not true. They (SALIC) were here for five years. Put it this way, I don’t see any major benefits (to it being owned by local farmers) but understand people are talking about it.”

When pressed on the benefits of the major farming operation being owned by WA farmers, Mr Nicoletti said family farms generally paid a “little more attention to detail”.

“We (farmers in WA) personally believe we do it better than the corporates,” he said.

“I don’t necessarily believe that… but family farms generally pay more attention to detail.”

Merredin Farms portfolio also covers parts of the shires of Westonia and Yilgarn.

‘BEST CASE SCENARIO’

Shire of Westonia chief executive Arthur Price called the return of the properties to local hands the “best case scenario”, while Mr Watts said it would improve social cohesion.

“One of the beauties of living in the regional areas is, if there is an emergency, everyone helps out,” Mr Watts said.

“So, having people who are families in the area, they will likely assist more readily than if you had a corporation where you’ve got staff who are paid to be there.

“But as long as we’re using good agricultural producing land for agricultural purposes, and it’s a continuation of that, we see that as a positive.”

When the aggregation returned to the market in 2023, SALIC Australia chief executive William England said the group intended to remain in the WA agriculture sector.

He said SALIC was selling in a bid to “reshape its strategic focus on various agricultural value chains” in the area.

SALIC also has a 35 per cent stake in Olam Agri Holdings, which owns about 8 per cent of Namoi Cotton — part-owner of the under-construction Kununurra cotton gin.

It also has a 35 per cent stake in Brazilian agribusiness giant Minerva Foods, which earlier this month closed the Tammin abattoir it had been operating for three years.

This came on the back of Minervaclosing the Shark Lake abattoir in Esperance in 2023, with the company now consolidating its Australian operations in Victoria.

Minerva had purchased the Shark Lake and Tammin plants for $48m in 2021.