Sector guide · Turf farms
Water, and how a buyer prices it
Before anything else, a buyer wants to understand your water position. Entitlement volume, reliability of the allocation, the source, whether it is.
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Before anything else, a buyer wants to understand your water position. Entitlement volume, reliability of the allocation, the source, whether it is tied to the land or held separately, and what it costs to get water onto the paddock.
A turf farm with secure high reliability water is a fundamentally different asset from one dependent on seasonal conditions or a licence with tenure risk. This is not a detail to work through in due diligence. It should be documented, verified and presented up front, because it changes the buyer pool and the price more than any other factor.
What a buyer asks for before they price a turf farm
| What a buyer asks for | What it has to show |
|---|---|
| Water entitlement documents | Volume, reliability class, the source, and whether the entitlement sits with the land or is held separately. |
| Land tenure schedule | Every block set out: freehold, lease or sharefarm, with terms, expiry dates and assignment rights. |
| Paddock map by variety and stage | Hectares in the ground, variety mix against current demand, maturity stage and the rotation plan. |
| Plant and irrigation register | Harvesters, tractors, mowers, pumps, mainlines, pivots and travellers at market value, with hours, condition and finance shown. |
| Customer schedule with concentration | Landscapers, builders, developers, councils, sporting facilities and retail, each with its share of revenue. |
| Four or five years of figures, annotated | Normalised earnings with drought, flood, water restrictions and the development cycle marked against the year they hit. |
Assembled before you go to market, this is a short document. Assembled during due diligence, it is six weeks of interruption and every gap in it reads as a risk.
Water allocation, water licence and water permit compared
| Instrument under the Water Act 2000 (Qld) | Whether it attaches to land, whether it is tradeable, and what that means for your sale |
|---|---|
| Water allocation. Authorises taking a stated volume from a watercourse, aquifer or other source | Attaches to land: no. Business Queensland states that water allocations are not attached to land. Tradeable: yes, permanently or temporarily. Allocations are a separate title, similar to land, and can be freely traded on the water market. What it means for your sale: the allocation is a separate saleable asset that can be carved out of the deal or sold into the water market on its own. Your contract has to say expressly whether it is in or out, and a buyer will search the register to confirm what they are actually getting. |
| Water licence. Authorises longer term taking of, or interference with, water | Attaches to land: yes. The water taken can only be used on the land the licence attaches to. Tradeable: not as a standalone asset. Business Queensland states that water licences are attached to land and cannot be bought or sold as their own asset, though a licence can be seasonally assigned and in some areas relocated. What it means for your sale: the licence follows the land, but it is not automatic paperwork. Transfers, subdivisions, amalgamations and some amendments are separate dealings, and certain dealings trigger a public notice with a 30 day submission period. |
| Water permit. Short term and activity specific, with a stated end date | Attaches to land: location specific rather than land attached. Tradeable: no. A water permit cannot be traded, amended, renewed or suspended. What it means for your sale: a permit is not a durable irrigation entitlement and it will not support a buyer’s production forecast. If a permit is the only water authorisation over part of the farm, that ground is priced as unirrigated until an allocation or licence is confirmed. |
Descriptions above follow the Queensland Government Business Queensland water authorisation pages, current as at August 2026. Licence limits matter as much as licence type. Business Queensland states that water licences specify either a maximum volume of water that may be taken in a year, or a maximum irrigated area. Business Queensland also states that water use in excess of your licensed area is an offence. Confirm which form yours takes before a buyer asks.
The water register, and what a buyer’s search will show
The Queensland Government describes the water register as an accurate and secure register that records ownership and other attributes of water allocations, operating like a land registry. Searches are conducted through Titles Queensland. A search returns holder names and tenancy, the water allocation lot number, the Crown Plan number, the title reference, registered and unregistered dealings, and encumbrances and interests such as mortgages, administrative advices and priority notices.
The recorded attributes of an allocation are the numbers a buyer will build a production model on. They include location, whether the supply is supplemented or unsupplemented, purpose, conditions, nominal volume, priority group, extraction rate, flow conditions, volumetric limit and water allocation group. All permanent water allocation dealings must be registered using titles registry forms.
A permanent transfer of an unsupplemented allocation runs in three steps. Lodge the notice of proposed transfer or lease of unsupplemented water allocation with the department. The department issues a water allocation dealing certificate. Lodge that certificate with Titles Queensland using Form 1 Transfer and Form 24 Property transfer information, with the fees. For a supplemented allocation the water supply scheme operator completes a notice to the registrar of water allocations of the existence of a supply contract, then the same Titles Queensland lodgement follows. The department states that it is not involved in managing sales of supplemented water allocations, which puts the scheme operator on your critical path instead.
There is a second, free tool. The Water Entitlement Viewer is an online map of water allocations, both supplemented and unsupplemented, surface and groundwater, along with water licences and unallocated water reserve volumes. It is searchable and downloadable. Run your own farm through it before you go to market, so that what you tell a buyer and what the department publishes are the same thing.
Ask what it is worth
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