The Queensland government has offloaded its choice 4447 hectare (10,989 acre) land holding in the Western Downs to local farmers for more than $30 million.
Up for sale was the Condamine River holding of CS Energy's Aberdare Collieries, the owner of the Kogan open cut coal mine near Chinchilla.
Ten local farmers in the Hopeland, Boonarga and Brigalow districts grabbed some of the surplus land across nine aggregations.
It is understood none of the land sold has been mined for coal.
CBRE Agribusiness's Edward O'Dwyer said he had 110 enquiries when the land went on the market through an expressions of interest campaign.
Of those, 25 potential buyers went through the second stage of the campaign resulting in the sale to 10 of them.
The nine non-contiguous parcels are just south of Chinchilla and 80km west of Dalby with 16.5km of Condamine River frontage.
The land is said to be suitable for cropping and grazing with several of the parcels able to be used for irrigation development.
More than half the land was considered arable, with alluvial soils throughout that range from brown duplex to grey self-mulching cracking clays.
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The region has an average annual rainfall of more than 600mm.
"CS Energy was determined to sell the portfolio to high calibre local operators with deep connections to the Condamine River and the greater Chinchilla district who will continue as custodians of the land," Mr O'Dwyer said.
Mr O'Dwyer said due to the big interest in the sale, "we have expanded our opportunities to include both on and off-market listings within the greater Western Downs region".
"Furthermore, we are actively seeking opportunities through a buy-side mandate and invite individuals and entities to connect with us if they possess assets or partial holdings that they are eager to divest in the near to medium term."
On the north side of the river, the holdings included North 1 aggregation - Ebony (183ha); North 2 aggregation - McCutcheons and Fayes (399ha); North 3 aggregation - Rodgers, Forest Park; Boonarga and Craigmore (387ha); and North 4 aggregation - Jones, Dandaloo, and Bendaloo (336ha).
On the south side of the river, the holdings were South 1 aggregation - Forteseven and Sunnyvale (663ha); South 2 aggregation - Wilga Hill, Mi Von and Glen Wilga (881ha); South 3 aggregation - Riverview (539ha); South 4 aggregation - Cloverdale and Strathmore (665ha), and South 5 aggregation - Glengarry and Teran (395ha)..
In addition to on-farm water storage, there are also water licences or allocations available for some aggregations.
Improvements on the holdings included sheds, cattle yards, dwellings and fencing.
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Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
