NT’s Benmara cattle station sold for millions less than expected as carbon dreams crash

Posted Tue 8 Sep 2026 at 4:34pmTue 8 Sep 2026 at 4:34pmTue 8 Sep 2026 at 4:34pm

In short:

Benmara Station in the Northern Territory has sold for $26 million.

The property has been bought by a UK livestock producer.

Previous owner WealthCheck had planned to run a large carbon project on Benmara, but it never happened.

Benmara Station in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory has sold for $26 million, which is $14 million less than its last sale price in 2023.

The 450,000 hectare station has been bought by UK-based livestock producer Shaun Davis, trading under the newly formed Benmara Land Holdings.

Located about 100 kilometres west of the Queensland border, the station had been “largely destocked” over the past 18 months.

According to documents from the NT Land Titles Office, the property settled on September 2, ending a very complicated period of ownership.

Carbon dreams over

Benmara was last purchased in 2023 for $40 million bare (no cattle) by Sam Mitchell, the founder of Sydney-based investment company WealthCheck. 

It was one in a series of significant NT property purchases by WealthCheck, including Conways Station in Arnhem Land for $14.5 million, and also Maryfield and Limbunya Stations for more than $100 million.

WealthCheck and its US investment partner Hartree had plans to run a large carbon project on Benmara. 

The station had a carbon project registered with the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) based on the controversial Human Induced Regeneration (HIR) methodology, where the landholder makes changes to allow vegetation on the property to regrow and store more carbon.

According to the CER website, the Benmara carbon project never generated any carbon credits and the project was revoked in December 2025. 

The HIR methodology has since been shelved by the federal government, with no new projects to be registered under the method.

Loading…

In 2024, WealthCheck went into liquidation and Benmara was listed for sale in 2025, “priced to sell at $35 million or nearest offer”.

ABC Rural contacted CBRE Agribusiness, but agents were not able to comment on the sale to Mr Davis.

On its website, CBRE said Benmara was offered with an estimated carrying capacity of 17,500 adult equivalents, although the property had been “largely destocked over the past 18 months”.

“The property offers ample potential for further development,” it said.

Meanwhile Maryfield and Limbunya Stations, previously owned by WealthCheck, have been relisted for sale this week.