FOREIGN investors have snapped up billions of dollars in prime agricultural land and rural enterprises.
Some of Australia's best-known farm brands - including Golden Circle, SPC, Dairy Farmers, CSR Sugar, SunRice and AWB - have fallen into foreign hands.
A Herald Sun investigation shows a swag of government-backed entrepreneurs - including from China, the Middle East and Singapore - are sizing up potential investments as global powers move to secure food supplies.
More than $9 billion of prized agricultural assets have been sold to offshore interests in the past two years.
And there is more to come - though no one can accurately say how much is for sale.
A Chinese delegation will arrive next month, hoping to acquire farms and other agricultural assets.
Tens of millions of dollars are being invested in water licences by American and British investors.
Tasmanian real estate executive Betty Kay said she had five Chinese investors hoping to acquire dairy assets - part of the superpower's plan to provide milk to its 1.3 billion population.
The investment is good news for depressed local farmers who can no longer make a decent living. But the sell-off has raised alarm bells in the bush and Canberra.
MPs from across the political spectrum are worried about unchecked foreign investment and are demanding greater transparency to ensure Australia's food supplies are not jeopardised.
Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten has flagged plans to conduct an audit of farm sales and is keen to "further strengthen transparency" of foreign ownership in agriculture.
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who will introduce a private member's Bill, argues the present rules around foreign investment are a "joke".
"No one is even monitoring how much of our farmland we are selling," he said.
Australia, with its rich and fertile lands and sophisticated farming techniques, is a key target for some of the world's biggest agricultural enterprises.
Spanish Ebro Foods is bidding $600 million to acquire SunRice and Singapore-based Wilmar International won a $1.75 billion bid for CSR's sugar and renewable energy business.
Doug Chant, ex-president of the United Dairy Farmers of Victoria, said foreign interests were seeking freehold farms in western Victoria.
"There appears to be interest there and, at the least, the Government should have a register of properties being sold to overseas interests," Mr Chant said.
Greens' deputy leader Christine Milne is pushing for stricter controls. She said countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia had begun "a massive buy-up".
"It is now imperative Australia protects its land and water as part of national sovereignty," she said.
WHAT'S BEEN BOUGHT
NATIONAL FOODS - SOLD in 2009
Purchase: Australia's largest dairy food and juice company which sells brands such as Pura Milk, Moove, Vitasoy and Berri Juice
Buyer: Kirin Holdings took over the company when it took over the Lion Nathan Group in late 2009.
Country: Japan
Price: $3.5 billion
AAB GRAIN - SOLD in 2009
Purchase: The Australian Barley Board was Australia's largest agribusiness but was bought out in mid 2009.
Buyer: Viterra, an international agribusinesss which operates in Western Canada, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Country: Canada
Price: $1.6 billion
DAIRY FARMERS - SOLD in 2009
Purchase: One of the largest and oldest dairy manufacturers in Australia, which was first established in 1900.
Buyer: Lion Nathan purchased the company in 2008 but was purchased a year later by Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings.
Country: Japan
Price: $675 million
TIMBERCORP - SOLD in 2009
Purchase: 8096ha property for the farming of almonds and with water rights of 90,000 mega litres.
Buyer: Olam a Singapore based company purchased the property which represents 45 per cent of the Australian almond crop.
Country: Singapore
Price: $288 million
NUFARM LIMITED - STAKE SOLD in 2010
Purchase: The crop protection and fertilisers company recently had to raise cash by selling a 20 percent stake.
Buyer: Sumitomo of Japan an insurance company.
Country: Japan
Price: $250 million
THE TASMAN GROUP - SOLD in 2008
Purchase: A Victorian-based meat processor purchased in 2008
Buyer: Swift Australia the nation's largest meat processor expands buying a competitor Tasman Group.
Country: Brazil
Price: $150m
AACO - SOLD in 2009
Purchase: Australia's largest cattle company with 22 properties owns 1.1 percent of the Australian continent.
Buyer: Felda Iffco an international conglomerate with ownership in the Middle East and Malaysia nows own 19.9 percent of the company.
Country: United Arab Emirates and Malaysia
Price: $70m
TATIARA MEAT COMPANY - SOLD in 2009
Purchase: Australia's largest exporter of chilled lamb purchased in December 2009
Buyer: Swift Australia the nation's largest meat processor purchases expands buying the South Australian based company.
Country: Brazil
Price: $30m
ROCKDALE BEEF - SOLD in 2010
Purchase: The feedlots and processing plant was purchased in March 2010
Buyer: Swift Australia the nations largest meat processor purchases the integrated beef cattle feedlot, feed mill, meatworks and farming business.
Country: Brazil
Price: $28m
*note was bought from Kirin Holdings Japanese company that owns National Foods and Dairy Farmers
MURRAY DARLING WATER LICENCES - SOLD
Purchase: Water licences in the Murray Darling
Buyer: Summit Global Management a San Diego-based investment management firm that invests in `hydrocommerce'.
Country: USA
Price: $20m
MURRAY DARLING WATER LICENCES - SOLD
Purchase: Water licences in the Murray Darling
Buyer: Guinness Peat Group a British Investment Group investing in licences.
Country: UK
Price: $35m
IMPACT FERTILISER - SOLD in 2010
Purchase: The former family business has been operating for almost 20 years
Buyer: Ameropa a privately owned Swiss international grain and fertiliser trader had been in a joint venture with the company for four years when it bought the company in May this year.
Country: Swiss
Price: $50m
**WHAT'S CURRENTLY BEING BOUGHT
AWB LIMITED - APPROVED
Purchase: AWB's profits suffered in the years following the Cole Inquiry.
Buyer: The Foreign Investment Review Board this month approved the purchased by Canadian firm Agrium .
Country: Canada
Price: $1.2 billion
SUNRICE AUSTRALIA - PENDING APPROVAL
Purchase: The major Australian household brand is of one of the world's largest rice food companies and is currently being bought out by a firm out of Spain.
Buyer: Ebro Foods is the world's largest producer of rice and the second biggest producer of pasta.
Country: Spain
Price: $600 million
CSR SUGAR - APPROVED
Purchase: The major sugar producer has recently been given permission to go ahead with the sale to Wilmar International by FIRB.
Buyer: Wilmar International is Asia's leading agribusiness group and is the largest global processor and merchandiser of palm and lauric oils.
Country: Singapore
Price: $288 million
SHENHUA WATERMARK COAL - PENDING APPROVAL
Purchase: More than 25 farms have been purchased in around the town of Gunnedah in order for the company to pursue coal mining interests in the area. Farmers are worried about the damage that a mine may do the local aquifer
Buyer: Shenhua Watermark Coal is the world's biggest coal company and is majority owned by the Chinese government.
Country: China
Price: $130 million
FUTURE INVESTMENT TARGETS
CUBBIE STATION
Purchase: The station is the largest irrigation property in the Southern Hemisphere and comes with water licences for 460,000 megalitres.
Potential Buyers: Currently in administration but being circled by Swiss-based Western Gulf Advisory and Olam a Singaporean group which already has significant agricultural interests in Australia.
Country: Companies from various countries looking at bidding.
QUEENSLAND SUGAR MILLS
Purchase: Following the announcement of the deal over CSR Sugar there is speculation that many of the mills in Northern Queensland such as Mackay Sugar, Maryborough Sugar Factory, Proserpine Sugar Mill and Mossman Mill may be bought.
Potential Buyers: The interested parties are believed to include France's Louis Dreyfus, American group Bunge and China's Bright Foods Company.
Country: France, USA, China
WARRNAMBOOL CHEESE
Purchase: One of the last Australian Cheese manufacturers this week saw Bega Cheese buy into the company, however Canada's Saputo has also been eyeing the company.
Potential Buyers: Australian firm Bega Cheese appears to have beaten out its Canadian competitor for the moment however, Saputo appears to remain interested in the company.
Country: Canada
VICTORIAN AND TASMANIAN DAIRY FARMS
Purchase: Chinese investors are currently looking at a number of Dairy farms in Victoria and Tasmania.
Potential Buyers: The buyers are seeking to invest in the farms in order to export milk powder to China.
Country: China
