February 2, 2016
Proston-based Smithfield Cattle Co is expanding its feedlot capacity by almost a third, thanks to an acquisition at Goondiwindi.
The 30-year-old family-owned company has added Sapphire Feedlot, 32km east of Goondiwindi, to its portfolio.
Sapphire is located on the banks of the Dumaresq River and comes with a water allocation and water harvesting rights.
Settlement was finalised on Friday for an undisclosed sum.
Smithfield’s Proston feedlot has an 18,500 head capacity and is rated as one of the top 10 single-site feedlots in Australia.
Sapphire currently has a 6000-head feedlot but has been licensed to carry 8700.
The new site will be managed out of Proston.
Sapphire was placed on the market 18 months ago by the Gibbs family, who developed the feedlot and also grew grain, silage and cotton on the property.
A Smithfield spokesman told Beef Central the company had been looking for a second site for some time – either a greenfield site or an established feedlot which had potential for expansion.
They believed Sapphire was a good buy because it had the capacity to generate cash flow immediately. Bringing a greenfield site into production could have taken two years.
Smithfield now intends to expand the feedlot to its full licensed capacity and make some infrastructure improvements to the property.
