February 10, 2022

Hewitt Cattle Australia spends US$68.6 million buying 1.1 million hectares in Central Australia

Queensland-based Hewitt Cattle Australia (HCA) has purchased 1.1 million hectares of land in Central Australia for AUD 96 million (~US$68.6 million; AUD 1 = US$0.72), based on documents from the Northern Territory Government Land Titles office, ABC News reported.

This brings the total land HCA owns in the Northern Territory to about around 1.6 million hectares.

The sale price included cattle, with HCA projecting the total possible capacity of the newly acquired properties at about 35,000 head.

HCA is backed by PSP Investment, a Canadian pension fund. PSP has backed HCA's property purchases since 2015.

HCA has been concentrating on expanding its organic activities, considering Central Australia as an ideal location for organic beef production.

Ben Hewitt, HCA's chief operating officer, said the newly acquired land is one of the biggest contiguous certified organic land parcels in the world and is suited for organic beef production.

Hewitt said cattle from Central Australia need minimal inputs and are given large areas of natural pasture to graze.

HCA owns several organic cattle properties in Queensland, and organic sheep properties in New South Wales.

-      ABC News