Macquarie Asset Management is stepping up its investment in farmland, taking control of Cowal Agriculture, a central Queensland cropping enterprise affiliated with US-based Global Endowment Management, in a transaction worth as much as $120 million.

The farms produce a range of crops, including cotton, sorghum, cereals, wheat, chickpeas and mung beans. A major feature of Cowal Agriculture is its access to water, allowing for widespread irrigation. Downstream from the Fairbairn Dam, the aggregation has more than half its land planted to irrigated row crops.

Its water entitlements include more than 27,000 megalitres of medium-priority water, while the properties have 12 kilometres of frontage to the Nogoa River.