IN THE New England the property names "Tarrangower" and "Girrakool" were once intimately associated with the production of world-renowned superfine wool.
"Tarrangower", owned today by Don and Fay Tully, was a subdivision in the early 1980s of the "Girrakool" property of Don's parents, Ross and Peg Tully (and before that, of Peg's forebears, the Coventrys).
In 1981 a bale of "Girrakool" wool from the clip of Ross and Peg Tully won the prestigious Lumb Golden Bale award - at the time, the supreme accolade for superfine wool excellence.
And 21 years later, just to prove that it was no fluke, Don and Fay Tully picked up the premier superfine trophy of their day, the Ermenegildo Zegna Award, for a fleece from "Tarrangower".
Since then, as we all know, the superfine wool sector has fallen on hard times - hopefully, not for ever - but in the "Tarrangower" Tully family's case, the wool market's vagaries are no longer a pressing issue.
Starting in 2005, "Tarrangower" has been undergoing a staged change of direction from Merino sheep to cattle, to the point where today it is an all-cattle operation, carrying upwards of 1000 head.
In the process, the property itself has been highly transformed, with the past five years in particular witnessing a major upgrading of pastures, fencing, water (35 new dams) and stock-handling infrastructure.
And now, with the property "firing", the season favourable, the cattle market on a high and their son Glenn hatching other plans, Don and Fay Tully have decided it's time to move on.
They have listed the 1261 hectare (3117ac) "Tarrangower" for sale with Meares and Associates of Sydney and Professionals at Guyra, and it will go to online auction from May 20 to May 22.
Situated 30 kilometres east of Arm-idale on the rainfall-favoured Eastern Fall of the Northern Tablelands, "Tarr-angower" is a gently undulating property of soft trap soils, cleared apart from strategic shelter belts.
Just under 700ha of the property has been pasture-improved, to the point where "Tarrangower" is now well suited not just to cattle breeding, but to backgrounding and finishing of home-grown or traded cattle.
Extensive new subdivision fencing (including 68km electrified) has included the creation of 33 paddocks of 14ha average size on the improved country, allowing pastures to be intensively grazed and spelled.
Pasture performance is underpinned by a generous 33 millimetre summer-dominant average rainfall, and stock water is secured by a 4km double frontage to the permanent Boundary Creek and some 90 dams.
As a result of the investments of the past five years, "Tarrangower" now boasts an estimated carrying capacity of 10 DSE/ha (it carried 8.7 DSE/ha through the 2013 drought, with minimal supplementary feeding).
This has supported a breeding herd of up to 900 cows with progeny grown out to supermarket weights of 475 to 500 kilograms live.
Weaners are also bought for growing and fattening as seasons allow, and in place of the superfine Merinos of earlier days there is now a crossbred prime lamb enterprise to further utilise the clover-rich pastures.
The property comes with a spacious four-bedroom brick homestead in an elevated, north-east-facing, garden setting with tennis court and generous entertaining areas, plus a modern three-bedroom manager's residence.
Cattle infrastructure inclu-des two modern sets of Wean-design steel cattle yards, the main yards of 500-head capacity having under-cover, cement-floored working area, three-way draft and Ruddweigh system.
Other working improvements include the four-stand, raised-board shearing shed and three sets of sheep yards, machinery and hay sheds, three-room shearers' hut and silo.
Bids for "Tarrangower" are expected in the vicinity of $5 million, reflecting the property's reputation, scale, favoured location and proven productivity.
Contact Meares and Associates (02) 9362 8111 or Professionals Guyra, (02) 6779 1777.
Peter Austin
Former editor and long time columnist and property writer for The Land.
Former editor and long time columnist and property writer for The Land.
