Pastoral empire split up with MacLachlan family's succession strategy

The historic South Australian company, founded in 1888, has announced joint managing directors and brothers Jock and Callum MacLachlan are leaving the business.

Chairman Hugh MacLachlan has told staff the shake-up is due to plans for family succession.

Mr MacLachlan will remain in overall charge of the almost 57,000 square kilometres owned by Jumbuck across a dozen properties in South Australia, Western Australia and NSW.

"Planning for family succession, most regrettably, sees my sons Jock and Callum departing the Jumbuck family in September," Mr MacLachlan wrote to staff in a newsletter, now made public.

"As joint managing directors they have served Jumbuck for a very long period of time, with distinction.

"It is their enterprise and financial expertise, and theirs alone, that expanded Jumbuck interests into the Victoria River district of the Northern Territory.

"Jumbuck will carry on as before with my daughters Airlie, Islay and Brooke as directors taking more active roles where they can."

The extensive pastoral operation currently runs sheep on stations in the three states and cattle in the west Kimberley.

Mr MacLachlan and his daughters will retain control of Blina Station (254,648ha) in WA's Kimberley, Bulgunnia Station (309,600ha) and Commonwealth Hill (513,000ha) in SA and Gunbar Station (112,000ha) near Griffith in NSW

The Commonwealth Hill Station in SA's low rainfall north-west is famous for being Australia's second largest sheep station today running 30,000 Merino sheep.

The nation's biggest sheep station is Rawlinna Station (1,011,714ha) about 400km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia which Jumbuck Pastoral is said to be in the process of selling to mining billionaire Twiggy Forrest.

Rawlinna shore 35,828 Merino sheep last year, including 10,000 lambs.

The station had been held by the MacLachlan family since the 1960s

Gunbar at Hillston is running 26,000 Merino sheep.

Jumbuck moved into the NT with the purchase of the 540,000ha Killarney Station in the NT for $35 million in 2014.

In 2021, what is believed to be Australia's second biggest cattle station, the famous 1.25 million hectare Wave Hill Station in the NT was sold for a reported $104 million.

It was sold by Western Grazing on a walk in, walk out basis with 40,000 branded Brahman cattle to a syndicate of South Australia's Jumbuck Pastoral Co. and three investors.

Wave Hill is in the Victoria River district, about 460km south west of Katherine, and the sale included adjacent Cattle Creek.

Callum MacLachlan will continue to run the Territory stations as well as SA's Springfield with brother Jock overseeing South Australia's McCoys Well Station (running 13,700 Poll Merino sheep) across 58,680ha and Meda Station (505,857ha) in Western Australia.

Established in 1888, the MacLachlan family begun growing wool at Paratoo Station, near Yunta in South Australia.

In making the announcement to staff, Callum and Jock MacLachlan said they had spent most of their working lives with Jumbuck, 30 years for Jock and 25 years for Callum.

"With a rationalisation of Jumbuck as a result of a family succession, we have both given notice and will finish up at Jumbuck at the end of September," they wrote.

"We have spent the last 14 years as joint managing directors and feel this has been a good era at Jumbuck, with some weather events thrown in that were a bit difficult for us all but, of the things that we could manage, we have felt we have given it our best crack."

They said: "We wish owner and chairman Hugh MacLachlan and our sisters, Airlie MacLachlan, Islay McKenzie and Brooke Yates, good seasons, markets, and for tune with the future management of Jumbuck."