In a momentous development, the MacLachlan family, one of Australia’s oldest and most influential farming dynasties and the nation’s third-largest landowner, has announced a historic split of their vast portfolio of livestock stations, reported Australian Financial Review. This monumental decision marks the most significant transformation of their Jumbuck Pastoral rural empire in 135 years.
In a newsletter addressed to their staff, which was shared internally in July and recently made public, the MacLachlan family revealed that brothers Jock and Callum would be departing the family business. Their departure is a strategic maneuver involving the rationalization of Jumbuck Pastoral and aligns with long-term succession planning within the family.
The MacLachlan brothers officially left the company at the end of September, concluding their illustrious tenure at one of the country’s leading producers of beef and sheep. Their departure has resulted in the partitioning of Jumbuck Pastoral’s colossal 5.2 million-hectare empire, a property portfolio larger than the entire Netherlands and valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The empire will be shared between the two brothers and their father, Hugh MacLachlan.
Jock MacLachlan will assume control of the 58,680-hectare McCoys Well station located in South Australia and the 505,857-hectare Derby Station in Western Australia. In contrast, his brother Callum will take charge of one of the family’s most iconic assets, the 1.2 million-hectare Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory, which was jointly purchased by Jumbuck in collaboration with the wealthy Wilson family for $104 million in 2021. Callum will also manage the 541,400-hectare Killarney Station.
The MacLachlan family’s remaining properties, including Blina Station in Western Australia, Bulgunnia Station, Commonwealth Hill in South Australia, and Gunbar Station in New South Wales, will be retained by their father, Hugh MacLachlan, who serves as the chairman of Jumbuck Pastoral, and their sisters, Airlie MacLachlan, Islay McKenzie, and Brooke Yates.
Earlier this year, the MacLachlan family made headlines when Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group acquired Jumbuck’s 1 million-hectare Rawlinna Station in Western Australia, solidifying its status as the country’s largest sheep property.
“Planning for family succession, most regrettably, sees my sons Jock and Callum departing the Jumbuck family in September,” commented Hugh MacLachlan. “As joint managing directors, they have served Jumbuck for a very long period of time, with distinction. It is their enterprise and financial expertise, and theirs alone, that expanded Jumbuck interests into the Victoria River district of the Northern Territory,” he added. “In the meantime, Jumbuck will carry on as before with my daughters Airlie, Islay, and Brooke as directors taking more active roles where they can.”
Before this significant reorganization, Jumbuck Pastoral ranked as the third-largest landowner in the nation, trailing behind Crown Point Pastoral Company, owned by graziers Donny and Colleen Costello and their partner, former horse-racing trainer Viv Oldfield, and ASX-listed Australian Agricultural Company. Crown Point further expanded its cattle station empire to more than 9.2 million hectares in September of last year with the acquisition of Mount Doreen Station in the Northern Territory for approximately $70 million. Australian Agricultural Company holds an impressive 6.6 million hectares of cattle stations.
Gina Rinehart, the billionaire owner of Hancock Prospecting, formerly the nation’s largest landowner, has been divesting her vast cattle station holdings, selling over $500 million in properties to shift her focus to higher-value Wagyu beef farming.
The MacLachlan family’s decision to divide their extensive farming empire marks a turning point in the Australian agricultural landscape, reshaping the hierarchy of the country’s largest landowners and opening a new chapter in the storied history of Jumbuck Pastoral.
In a newsletter addressed to their staff, which was shared internally in July and recently made public, the MacLachlan family revealed that brothers Jock and Callum would be departing the family business. Their departure is a strategic maneuver involving the rationalization of Jumbuck Pastoral and aligns with long-term succession planning within the family.
The MacLachlan brothers officially left the company at the end of September, concluding their illustrious tenure at one of the country’s leading producers of beef and sheep. Their departure has resulted in the partitioning of Jumbuck Pastoral’s colossal 5.2 million-hectare empire, a property portfolio larger than the entire Netherlands and valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The empire will be shared between the two brothers and their father, Hugh MacLachlan.
Jock MacLachlan will assume control of the 58,680-hectare McCoys Well station located in South Australia and the 505,857-hectare Derby Station in Western Australia. In contrast, his brother Callum will take charge of one of the family’s most iconic assets, the 1.2 million-hectare Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory, which was jointly purchased by Jumbuck in collaboration with the wealthy Wilson family for $104 million in 2021. Callum will also manage the 541,400-hectare Killarney Station.
The MacLachlan family’s remaining properties, including Blina Station in Western Australia, Bulgunnia Station, Commonwealth Hill in South Australia, and Gunbar Station in New South Wales, will be retained by their father, Hugh MacLachlan, who serves as the chairman of Jumbuck Pastoral, and their sisters, Airlie MacLachlan, Islay McKenzie, and Brooke Yates.
Earlier this year, the MacLachlan family made headlines when Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group acquired Jumbuck’s 1 million-hectare Rawlinna Station in Western Australia, solidifying its status as the country’s largest sheep property.
“Planning for family succession, most regrettably, sees my sons Jock and Callum departing the Jumbuck family in September,” commented Hugh MacLachlan. “As joint managing directors, they have served Jumbuck for a very long period of time, with distinction. It is their enterprise and financial expertise, and theirs alone, that expanded Jumbuck interests into the Victoria River district of the Northern Territory,” he added. “In the meantime, Jumbuck will carry on as before with my daughters Airlie, Islay, and Brooke as directors taking more active roles where they can.”
Before this significant reorganization, Jumbuck Pastoral ranked as the third-largest landowner in the nation, trailing behind Crown Point Pastoral Company, owned by graziers Donny and Colleen Costello and their partner, former horse-racing trainer Viv Oldfield, and ASX-listed Australian Agricultural Company. Crown Point further expanded its cattle station empire to more than 9.2 million hectares in September of last year with the acquisition of Mount Doreen Station in the Northern Territory for approximately $70 million. Australian Agricultural Company holds an impressive 6.6 million hectares of cattle stations.
Gina Rinehart, the billionaire owner of Hancock Prospecting, formerly the nation’s largest landowner, has been divesting her vast cattle station holdings, selling over $500 million in properties to shift her focus to higher-value Wagyu beef farming.
The MacLachlan family’s decision to divide their extensive farming empire marks a turning point in the Australian agricultural landscape, reshaping the hierarchy of the country’s largest landowners and opening a new chapter in the storied history of Jumbuck Pastoral.
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