One of the biggest cattle ranches in the US has gone on the market for $A273 million.
The sale of the historic Turkey Track Ranch in Texas across 32,375 hectares (80,000 acres) is said to be one of the biggest stand-alone ranches remaining in the Lone Star State.
The sale has been entrusted to Australian Bernard Uechtritz who has become a superstar in the real estate world in the US.
Born in Rockhampton, Queensland and raised both in Australia and Papua New Guinea, Mr Uechtritz shot to fame with the 2016 global marketing and sale of the 216,507ha (535,000 acre) W.T. Waggoner Ranch in Vernon, Texas for more than $A1 billion.
The Waggoner ranch is said to be the largest ranch in in the US behind one fence.
Mr Uechtritz, who is today a Texas resident, has followed up with many other stellar deals and now has Turkey Track owned for a century by the Coble and Whittenburg families.
To compare the size of the offering in Australian terms - our biggest cattle station is Anna Creek in South Australia.
Anna Creek has its origins as a sheep grazing operation and spreads across a breath-taking 2.36 million ha (5.9 million ac) to remain the biggest beef operation in the world.
A former Kidman property and now owned by the Williams Cattle Company, Anna Creek takes in 15,746 square kilometres.
Number two in the world is also home-grown with Clifton Hills Station also in SA owned by Crown Point Pastoral Company, a partnership of the Costello and Oldfield families.
Clifton Hills is the largest holding on the famous Birdsville Track in the far north of SA and takes in 1.65 million ha (4.2 million ac).
In the US, Mr Uechtritz is famed for making complex deals and with Turkey Track Ranch he is promoting more than the thousands of cattle long grazed on the land.
The long-time owners are "open to an outright sale as well as retained partial ownership".
The sale also includes a 25 per cent oil and gas stake in mineral reserves on the sprawling property.
Proposed conservation interests include the reintroduction of a buffalo herd, carbon sequestration and new energy initiatives such as wind and solar.
"This sale offering is not a matter of if, or how, but when and to whom," Mr Uechtritz said.
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.
