Ord farmland expands to NT border

A 5400-hectare parcel of land on the WA-NT border has been leased to Kununurra’s largest farmer in a boost long-held ambitions for the Ord to become a major cotton growing region.

Kimberley Agricultural Investment and Keep Farming will develop the Ord’s Knox Plain for cotton production which will be crucial to underpin a cotton gin under construction in the region.

Shanghai Zhongfu-owned KAI has long held a 50-year peppercorn lease over Knox and nearby Goomig (7400ha) and has freehold over some 15,000 hectares of land on the Carlton Plain.

Tuesday’s announcement cements development of that lease in place.

Kimberley MLA Divina D'Anna said the lease would boost economic and employment in the East Kimberley.

“This is the largest agricultural project in WA's north, and a fantastic example of collaboration between government, local agricultural businesses, and Traditional Owners who are a proud partner in the Ord agricultural industry,” she said.

Regional Development Minister Don Punch said the deal would pave the way for a cotton industry in the Ord Valley.

KAI is a shareholder in the cotton gin alongside Namoi Cotton, MG Corporation, the Ord River District Co-operative, and local growers.

The $60 million facility was loaned $34 million by the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

Construction began in June last year at Mulligans Road near Kununurra and is due for completion in mid-2025.

Some 1,000 jobs and $1.19 billion in exports are expected to flow from the gin in its first 10 years of operation.

The Ord Valley’s plentiful supply of water – it is fed by the mammoth Lake Argyle which is currently five metres above the spillway due to wet season inflows – has made the region an attractive investment.

Cotton has traditionally been grown in the Murray Darling Basin but drought and long-running water concerns have hampered the industry.

Land values in the valley have jumped from $9,000 per hectare in 2018 to $19,000, according to an ABC Kimberley report in 2023.

Among major transactions last year in the valley was the sale of 517 hectares of Quintis’ sandalwood plantation to wheat farming royalty Ron Greentree for $7.67m, followed by a further 363ha to prominent pastoralist Sterling Buntine.

The state government plunged $77 million into upgrading the M1 water channel last year and $4 million into power infrastructure for the gin.