New chapter in beef story

A King Island farming enterprise built property by property over almost four decades and two generations is entering a new chapter, with the Sutton family’s Darlot Downs, Summerfields, Millstone and Bokara properties being offered for sale.

Together, the four holdings cover about 1214 hectares across Egg Lagoon, Yambacoona and Loorana and today operate as a coordinated beef breeding, backgrounding and finishing enterprise.

The family’s King Island farming story began in 1988 with the purchase of Millstone.

Darlot Downs and the original Summerfields coastal country followed in 1992, beginning a pattern of acquiring neighbouring and complementary country, then investing in it to make the holdings work more efficiently together.

Millstone itself has had an unusual journey through the family story. It was sold in 1996, but 25 years later was bought back.

By then, the farming operation around Yambacoona had again begun to grow. Yambacoona Dairy was acquired in 2012, the Cricket Pitch Block in 2014 and Grandpa’s in 2017, all becoming part of the expanded Millstone operation.

Bokara was added in 2020, Millstone was re-acquired in 2021, Summerfields followed in 2023 and East Wickham Road was added to Darlot Downs in 2025.

Brothers Alistair and Richard Sutton purchased the properties assembled by the previous generation in 2012 and continued both expanding and developing the enterprise.

The result is not simply four farms under common ownership. Each holding has a particular role in the cattle business.

Darlot Downs and Summerfields form the main northern grazing base at Egg Lagoon. Nearby Millstone provides additional growing and finishing country, while Bokara at Loorana gives the business a separate central King Island holding.

Different land types are used to advantage. The heavier inland country carries the main breeding and growing operation, semi-coastal areas at Millstone include soils suited to lucerne, while coastal country provides seasonal grazing and an opportunity to spell heavier paddocks during wetter periods.

Summerfields, the largest of the holdings at about 478 hectares, is a good example of that flexibility. Much of the investment over the years has gone into infrastructure that makes the cattle enterprise easier to operate rather than simply increasing the number of hectares.

At Darlot Downs, a central laneway feeds into a substantial cattle yard complex. Summerfields has more recently constructed undercover cattle yards with a crush, integrated weigh bars and concrete race.

Millstone has established handling facilities suited to its role as a grazing and finishing block, while Bokara has a newer central laneway linking the paddocks back to its yards.

The cattle system has been shaped around King Island’s long pasture-growing season.

The vendors report average liveweight gains from weaning to sale at or above one kilogram per head per day.

That grass-based system, combined with the different land classes across the four holdings, gives the operation flexibility to move cattle and adjust stocking pressure as pasture conditions change.

At about 1214 hectares in total, the sale is a substantial offering for a tightly held King Island rural market. Elders describes it as the first offering of more than 600 hectares on the island in 15 years.

The properties are being offered either together or in combinations, subject to vendor approval, with expressions of interest closing at 4pm on Friday, October 9.

The family may also consider selling part of the existing cattle herd as part of a walk-in, walk-out arrangement, while machinery may be available separately to a successful purchaser.