Douglas West, an iconic large-scale cattle station in the Northern Territory’s securely watered Douglas Daly region, is being offered to the market with potential to develop an institutional dryland and irrigated cropping enterprise.
Currently owned by the renowned Tipperary Group of Stations, the 42,710-hectare property located 166km south of Darwin features abundant water and a land clearing permit for 3,764ha (10,420ha of which has already been cleared since 1990) offering a blank canvas for an incoming buyer to produce cotton, corn and sorghum crops.
Secure natural water is supplied via five groundwater bores, a number of permanent and semi-permanent creeks, springs and water holes, and 17 kilometres of Douglas River frontage.
Douglas West has a carrying capacity of 7,500 Adult Equivalents, and is divided into four main paddocks of abundant natural and improved pastures, with significant land development already undertaken.
The existing stock-proof fencing requires minimal investment making it ideal for large-scale cattle backgrounding and breeding, complemented by access to the major live cattle export hub of Darwin.
With the property now surplus to business requirements, Tipperary Group of Stations, Chief Financial Officer, Darryn Kamp, said the offering would suit a range of buyers.
“In the past Douglas West was used extensively as an important part of the Tipperary Group of Stations’ backgrounding operations,” Mr Kamp said.
“While its highest and best use is cattle production, Douglas West is also suited to dryland and irrigated cropping.
“With excellent access to natural water flows and bores, the offering is very attractive for multi-use buyers.”
In early 2024, the Tipperary Group, invested approximately $70 million to build a new cotton processing gin near Katherine, enabling Northern Territory and Western Australian-grown cotton to be processed locally and exported to international markets.
Located only 200km from Douglas West, and with the capability to process between 150,000-200,000 bales annually, Mr Kamp said the new facility makes future cotton production at the station an attractive investment opportunity.
“With an increasing international demand for high-quality lint along with strong domestic demand for cotton seed by local graziers, there has been a significant uptake of pastoralists turning their attention to cotton production,” Mr Kamp said.
“Douglas West has direct access to sealed roads and a short commute to world-class ginning facilities at WANT Cotton gin 30km north of Katherine, making it ideally located for high-volume cotton production.”
LAWD’s Danny Thomas, said Douglas West is expected to attract bids greater than $20 million, with the property suiting a diverse pool of buyers due to its appeal for both livestock pursuits and cropping opportunities.
“The work the vendors have done to build, fund and operate the local cotton gin is transformational for the north and is supporting businesses across the region to easily access global markets,” Mr Thomas said.
“Prospective buyers who are interested in investing fresh capital to create their own enterprise will be able to tap into this infrastructure. Essentially, they would be purchasing a clean slate of land already cleared and prepped for a higher use and not limited by existing infrastructure in their development.
“Because of this, we expect to see interest from local pastoral businesses looking to expand, southern cropping operators wanting to step into the northern market, as well as domestic or international investors seeking large-scale mixed farming opportunities.”
Douglas West is for sale via Expression of Interest closing at 12pm (AEDT) on Monday 22 December 2025. For more information, please contact Danny Thomas on +61 439 349 977 or Patrick Kerr on +61 451 142 791.
View listing: Eagle_1699093 DOUGLAS-DALY NT 0822 – Real Estate Transactions, Valuations & Advisory
