TOOWOOMBA-based grainfed beef supply chain manager Allied Beef will enter a significant growth phase, following its purchase of Mort & Co’s Yarranbrook feedlot near Inglewood on the Queensland/NSW border.

Settlement took place on Friday. No price was disclosed, but the transaction was bare of stock, and is understood to have been worth around $55 million.

Allied Beef, headed by James Maclean, plans to expand the Yarranbrook yard over the next 18 months from its current working capacity of 18,540 head to its full licensed capacity of 35,000 head SCU. The opportunity for future expansion was presented by Mort & Co, given the company’s change in direction, and Yarranbrook presented a logical prospect for Allied Beef as it was a going concern together with expansion capacity.

Allied has a strong business connection with the Yarranbrook yard, having custom-fed cattle there back in the John Dee ownership days.

During the marketing campaign, Yarranbrook was described as a large-scale, high-performance facility designed for longfed Wagyu and Angus programs, with a built capacity of 18,540 SCU, and approval to expand to 35,000 SCU.

Originally owned and operated by the Hart processing family from John Dee, a 50pc stake in Yarranbrook was sold to Wagyu processor Stone Axe Pastoral in 2019. Mort & Co took a 50pc stake in 2022, before taking outright ownership two years later.

During its period of ownership, Mort upgraded the yard’s water systems, effluent management and on-site infrastructure. The feedlot and surrounding farm and grazing country spans 13,439ha, and is supported by more than 3000ML of water entitlements from the Macintyre Brook and Coolmunda Dam system. Currently five centre pivots are employed, with plans to develop additional irrigation capacity to service the feedlot’s needs for hay and silage.

“It’s our intention to move into a planning phase for the expansion soon, and move into construction in the back end of this year – that will include new milling, grain handling and cattle handling infrastructure to handle the larger numbers,” Allied Beef managing director James Maclean told Beef Central.

“The investment in Yarranbrook is about growing the business, and the underlying demand for high quality Australian grainfed beef,” he said.

Cattle on feed will be a combination of company-owned and custom-feeding with aligned customers, covering a range of feeding programs mostly covering British and longfed Wagyu types.

“We look forward to a smooth transition into operations, due not only to Mort & Co’s proven high standard of operating a business but also as the current management team, led by Noel Barker, will remain in place under the new Allied Beef ownership. Noel and his team will continue to drive Yarranbrook’s operation and development over the next few years,” Mr Maclean said.

Expansion phase

Allied’s purchase and planned expansion of the Yarranbrook yard represents a major lift in operating capacity for the company, which also owns and operates the Gunyerwarildi feedlot near Warialda in northern NSW.

The completion of expansion work at Yarranbrook will give Allied Beef one-time lotfeeding capacity of around 50,000 head.

Purchased in 2019, Gunyerwarildi was expanded from its original 7000 head capacity to its current licensed capacity of 20,000 in a single stage. The surrounding grazing and farming property includes backgrounding capacity for up to 3000 steers and areas for fodder and grain production.

Covering some 6100ha, Gunyerwarildi was developed by previous owner Ceres Agriculture, which saw some of its assets go on the market after going into administration in 2019. The feedyard yard employs two modern steam flakers, with capacity to process large quantities of grain.

Jaclyn Hope, Danny Thomas and Tim McKinnon from LAWD handled the Yarranbrook sale.

Continuing sequence of feedlot sales

In March, Allied Beef announced plans to sell its smaller Vandyke feedlot near Springsure in Central Queensland, licensed for 8640 Standard Cattle Units. Vandyke is yet to find a buyer, but discussions are understood to be at an advanced stage.

The Yarranbrook sale is the latest in a sequence of large feedlot transactions that started late year with the $400m sale of Rangers Valley near Glen Innes, followed by Elders Killara yard near Quirindi, and Mort’s Pinegrove feedlot near Millmerran, bought by Wagyu producers Peter and Jane Hughes and Warwick lotfeeder Chris Shaw.

Yet to find owners are the Shearer Smith family’s Smithfield feedlot near Proston in Queensland’s South Burnett and Mort & Co’s major Grassdale yard near Dalby, which came to the market only last month.

See Beef Central’s profile on Allied Beef published earlier as part of our Top 25 Lotfeeders report.