By Chris McCullough

A UK-based investment group has just purchased the world’s biggest sheep farm, based in Australia, that stretches to 1,046,323ha and has a rated carrying capacity of 87,421 sheep.

Rawlinna Station is located on the Nullarbor Plain, 400km east of Kalgoorlie in western Australia, and was owned by Jumbuck Pastoral, which has a number of other stations throughout the country.

It has been purchased by UK-based Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC), which already owns several cattle stations in Australia, but has now made a move into sheep production.

The sale agreement is conditional upon CPC receiving Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval for the acquisition of the station, and the customary western Australia government approval to the transfer of the pastoral lease.

The vast farm extends to over one million hectares

The sale is otherwise unconditional.

Although the sale price is not being disclosed by either party, Rawlinna has been sold as a going concern ‘walk in, walk out’ basis.

The sale includes all the sheep flock, and all current employees will be offered ongoing roles with CPC.

World’s largest sheep farm

This huge farm features a renowned boundary exclusion fence, to keep out wild dogs, that spans some 400km in length.

Staff at Rawlinna Station are being offered jobs with CPC

CPC has a long history in Australian agriculture, dating back to 1879. In October 2020, the UK-based Hands Family Office purchased 100% of CPC.

Since then, CPC has continued to grow its portfolio, overseen by its Australian and Indonesian management team headed by CEO, Troy Setter.

Setter said: “We are excited with the acquisition of Rawlinna that will see CPC return to large-scale sheep and wool production. It is arguably the largest single sheep property in the world.

“Our owners, the Hands family, have held significant sheep production properties in the UK and we believe now is a good time to invest in Australia’s sheep and wool industry.

Troy Setter is the CEO of UK based investment group CPC

“Rawlinna represents an opportunity for us to re-enter the Australian sheep production space at scale and accelerate our ambition of building out a quality diversified portfolio by both geography and production type.

“We now have assets in cattle, goat, sheep and wool production, natural capital and over 20,000ha of cropping capacity.

“We have no intention of converting Rawlinna away from sheep production. We will aim to build on the legacy of Jumbuck Pastoral by further developing Rawlinna to increase its sheep and wool production capacity in the years to come,” he said.

Sheep enterprise

Jumbuck Pastoral is one of the largest livestock production enterprises in Australia. Established in 1888, it is a family-owned company with vast land holdings throughout the country.

Rawlinna Station is located on the Nullarbor Plain, 400km east of Kalgoorlie in western Australia

Jock MacLachlan from Jumbuck Pastoral, said: “Rawlinna Station occupies an important space in our family’s history. We are delighted that it will be passed to a custodian the calibre of CPC, with a strong record of sustained investment in our industry and whose owner takes a multi-generational view.

“We look forward to seeing CPC invest in the next stage of Rawlinna’s development and the career opportunities that will be provided to the Rawlinna management team.”

CPC owns and operates a portfolio of nine station aggregations in Australia and two feedlots in Indonesia.

Across more than 3.2 million hectares of land, the CPC team runs more than 300,000 head of cattle, 45,000 goats and produce a diverse range of crops.

With an asset base in excess of AUD$1.2 billion, CPC supplies a variety of domestic and international customers.

CPC owns the iconic Isis Downs Station that was one of Australia’s largest sheep stations and today runs 31,000 cattle and 45,000 goats.

World’s largest sheep farm

Sheep enterprise

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