Ron Evans’ family offers prized SA farm Mt Schanck station

A historic and prized South Australian farm bought by former AFL Chairman and Essendon Football Club president, the late Ron Evans, for his family is on the market publicly for the first time in its more than 150-year history.

Mt Schanck station, about 13km south of Mt Gambier in the state’s east, has been listed for sale in what shapes as one of Australia’s most important agricultural sales of the year.

The prominent 2870ha property, which Evans purchased for his family in 2005, was previously owned for more than 140 years by the Clarke family, who bought it privately from the Arthur brothers of Van Diemans Land in 1861.

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About 700ha of the property has been developed to centre pivot irrigation and is utilised for lucerne based pastures, fodder cropping and hay production, as well as occasional short-term leases to other farmers, who grow potatoes and other cash crops.

The station includes a stunning 1860s homestead.

Also on the land is a four-bedroom, circa 1864 homestead amid manicured gardens, as well as multiple staff residences, a circa 1875, six-stand shearing shed, shearer’s quarters and almost new Pratley sheep and cattle yards.

Evans passed away in 2007, two years after buying the station in an off-market deal.

CBRE’s Danny Thomas and Phil Schell have been appointed to sell the property via an international expressions of interest campaign.

Thomas says the listing represents an incredibly rare opportunity.

Mt Schanck station spans more than 2800ha.

“Mt Schanck is an iconic, investment-scale asset. It is incredibly rare for landholdings of this scale that have such a unique position in the history of Australian agriculture to be presented to the market, and to that end Mt Schanck is now being offered publicly for sale for the first time ever, having been owned by only three families,” he says.

Buyers can grab the property on a walk in, walk out basis, allowing them to take ownership of 2000 Angus cows with calves, 2500 Composite ewes with lambs at foot, as well as an extensive list of fit-for-purpose plant and equipment.

“The property features a combination of extensively developed improvements, high quality soil types, excellent climatic characteristics and outstanding operational infrastructure,” Thomas adds.

“The substantial Ground Water Entitlement of almost 5000 megalitres offers the opportunity to undertake significant further development of the property, including conversion to alternative uses such as irrigated cropping or dairy.”