Egg producer no chicken in broiler farm buy

The departure of one of the nation’s biggest chicken meat producers from Victoria has hatched plans to expand a different industry at Meredith.

The town’s former Meredith Broiler Farm lost its chicken growing contract with Baiada after the latter’s exit from Victoria in 2017.

But the property at 3920 Midland Highway, Meredith, will be put to a different use after selling to a local egg producer for around $3.5 million.

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Colliers International associate director Jesse Manuel negotiated the sale of one of the first out-of-contract broiler farmers which will be converted to an alternate use since the shutdown of Baiada’s processing plant at Laverton North.

“There are a range of potential, alternate uses for out-of-contract broiler farms evidenced by inquiry received from a diverse range of agricultural industry participants,” Manuel says.

He says the farm sold at around a 40% discount to its previous value as a commercial broiler farm.

“Every asset has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis as there are so many variables that impact on an vacant poultry farm’s value, such as proximity to other assets in the supply chain, access to markets and labour and, especially, condition of facilities and their adaptability to alternative uses,” he says.

“The Meredith farm comprised modern buildings and infrastructure and terrific access via the Midland Highway. It was an ideal fit for the purchaser’s operations.”

The broiler farm first hit the market in 2016.

The facility has four grower sheds with a total capacity of more than 200,000 birds based on 21.5 birds per square metre of shed area.

When the property first hit the market, its Baiada contract was part of the deal.

The property also has a large, modern homestead built in 2007 with five bedrooms, extensive living areas, office, two bathrooms, two toilets, a double garage and a garden.

It has a generator shed housing the backup power generators, while the property has three-phase electricity and is connected to town water.

Baiada closed its Laverton North processing plant in 2017 with the loss of 106 jobs and terminating 16 growers’ contracts.

Victorian Farmers Federation Chicken Meat president Allan Bullen told the Weekly Times at the time that the growers who supplied the Baiada plant with about 300,000 birds a week faced finding other processors or — more likely — adapting to alternative poultry production.

This article from the Geelong Advertiser was originally published as “Meredith broiler farm sells to egg producer after loss of contract”.