A SHAKE-UP in north Australian rural land ownership has begun as debt pressure brings out investors looking north for export opportunities.

Since December, big corporate deals for an estimated $1 billion of rural properties have been agreed, though many are yet to complete, the CourierMail reports.

Macquarie Pastoral Group, which has a rural land fund of domestic and offshore investors, is to fork out $169 million for three Georgina Pastoral Co properties in the NT and Queensland. It is expected to snare more.

Queensland cattle barons Peter Hughes and Bill Scott, long-time business partners, are breaking up Georgina Pastoral to manage their empires independently.

Hughes and Scott themselves acquired properties from the former Colonial and Stanbroke cattle empires.

The latter's break-up marked the last big ownership shake-up about five years ago.

Macquarie Pastoral Group chief executive David Goodfellow said it was a buyer's market, with many large-scale opportunities at sub-valuation prices.

However experts say it is a special situation, reflecting vendors extremely keen to exit, and that premium land values will not slide.

Kerry Herron, co-founder of property advisory group Herron Todd White, said the north's reliable rainfall and better prospects in the live export markets were luring big corporate investors like Macquarie.

There has been speculation Macquarie could be a buyer for some Australian Agricultural Co properties.

AACo is in talks with Primary Holdings to sell five properties and is selling three more to an unspecified buyer.

James Packer is trying to sell a 90 per cent stake in Consolidated Pastoral to London-based private equity group Terra Firma for an estimated $425 million.

Mr Herron said Top End value was buoyed by the cattle prices being fetched by Consolidated Pastoral.

It mainly sells its NT herd into Indonesia and prices are averaging above $2kg liveweight for high-percentage brahman cattle.

At Roma - southern Queensland's premium selling centre - prices are just $1.50kg for better quality cattle.

Read more on the CourierMail online.