Rural

Farmers are expanding amid forecasts of a second year in a row of record farmgate production driven by high commodity prices and excellent seasonal conditions.

Fund manager Gunn Agri has paid $11m for a 75-hectare orchard near Nimbin with 14,000 Hass trees.

Daylesford is now arguably the regional capital of architecture and interior design, with big-city names putting their cosmopolitan stamp on the style-conscious town and its surrounds.

Non-bank lender Merricks Capital has lined up a $500 million pipeline of funding opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Moonbah in Condobolin attracted bids from across the country as farmers look to expand their businesses amid record prices for beef and other commodities.

The 2549-hectare Red Creek farm at Keyneton in SA had been owned by five generations of the Keynes family, dating back to the 1840s.

Located at Jervis Bay, it is a luxurious, renovated property that has also been used as a successful short-stay destination.

Towns 300km’s from Melbourne may not seem ’forward thinking’, but these little communities have proven to be surprisingly future driven.

Among the latest large-scale farming properties to hit the market is the Marshmead aggregation in northern NSW, being sold by billionaire Sir Michael Hintze.

Last drinks were called at this town’s watering hole 100 years ago but locals believe that, with lots of love and money, the ’haunted’ former hotel has potential.