Australia’s largest wood fibre processor and exporter has listed one of its forestry properties for sale. Source: Weekly Times
Midway Ltd has put its Kerrisdale property at Strath Creek north of Melbourne on the market with an asking price of more than $3 million.
The 785ha property was purchased by the company in 1995 after being in the hands of the Smorgan family.
Midway Ltd general manager of plantations Glen Samsa said Kerrisdale had been planted to pine trees in the past and more recently to hard woods.
“The new owners could go a number of ways including continuing to grow hard woods,” Mr Samsa said.
“We feel it could be better suited to pines so to there is also the option to establish a pine plantation.
“If the new owners chose to do that, they have the ability to access carbon credits, as well as take advantage of local and export markets for soft woods.”
But there is a third, non-forestry option which could be to return the property to grazing.
Mr Samsa said the practise of reversion (back to grazing from forestry) was now well established and thousands of hectares of plantations had been brought back into agriculture across western Victoria and Western Australia.
“Parties will approach this property in a number of ways and will work back the value from the proposed land use,” he said.
There was the possibility of gradually converting the land back from forestry to agriculture but earning an income from the trees at the same time. Negotiations with Midway Ltd could see them buy some of the harvest of those trees.
