If you build it, they will come.

As the old saying goes, ‘if you build it, they will come…’ and then some.

A recent interview with valuer Roger Hill from Herron Todd White, has shed some light on the current seller's market and how infrastructure and land improvements are being reflected with record purchase prices.

With many graziers starting to see the benefits of focusing on improvements prior to sale, Australian producers could see a golden era of cash flow for looking after their land. Hill added that “land holders will earn more money for changing their habits and improving land conditions, which will in return see cash flow productivity benefits”.

When we asked Hill what buyer's are intrigued by in the current market, he stated that in a seller's market, “the next buyer won’t discriminate for bad fencing, poor water systems, non-improved infrastructure, or less conditioned land…they will actually pay full price and then some”.

Hill identified that a common factor in the recent uptick of record sales, was due to owners presenting land with immaculate infrastructure. If property owners are looking after their grass, then there is a good chance they are thinking about their troughs, pipelines, fence lines, and more to ensure their infrastructure complements their land and grazing management systems.

Which leads us to the next point of not only is looking after your soil and improving infrastructure a prevailing factor to getting the sale price you want, so is doing all the above in a modernised way. With technology and regenerative farming practices taking the fore front in the agricultural space, many farmers are seeing the benefit of improving soil and infrastructure towards this trend by using specific contemporary strategies. For example, short-term grazing methods where fencing and water systems align to natural landforms, allowing the land to rest and regenerate. As apposed to longer-term grazing methods such as open or continuous grazing.

Additionally, water points such as troughs can be strategically placed to refill and deliver water to animals whilst allowing for evenly distributed grazing and therefore sustaining soil composition.

Hill finished by stating that the properties that do have the best infrastructure and have the ability to re-design to modern grazing techniques are heading in the direction of getting higher hectare rates than the average historically fenced, flogged, and weeded land.

If you would like to know more about securing the best value for you property, contact RPL Managing Director Wally Cooper on 0427 781 054.