The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) is expected to finalise its decision on the sale of Tasmania's largest farm to a British forestry investment firm next week.

It has sparked concerns from nearby landowners about the potential conversion of agricultural land into pine plantations.

The FIRB had requested more time to review the application by Gresham House to buy the 22,000-hectare Rushy Lagoon property in the state's north-east, owned by the Pye family.

The deal is expected to exceed $100 million.

Rushy Lagoon is a sprawling dairy, beef and cropping property about 140 kilometres north-east of Launceston.

With 17 kilometres of Bass Strait frontage, it runs thousands of beef and dairy cattle, supplying milk to Fonterra.

But the farm's potential new British owners are looking beyond just milk and beef to provide returns to their investors.

Large scale tree plantings are also planned.

Converting Rushy into pines

Gresham House is the UK's largest forestry asset manager and the world's seventh largest forestry investment manager , overseeing almost $7 billion in forestry and natural capital assets.

Part of the company's long-term strategy is to broaden its international footprint.

This includes tapping into Australia's Nature Repair Market, earning biodiversity credits for carbon projects and drawing an income from growing pines for timber.

The size of Rushy Lagoon could provide the scale to do this.

But some locals are concerned that planting pines is not the best use of agricultural land.

One of those is St Helens beef farmer and former Liberal MP John Tucker.
"You can't eat pine trees, that's a big one," he said.

Mr Tucker knows the area well.

He runs Musselroe Estate, which neighbours Rushy Lagoon on its eastern boundary.

Mr Tucker's relatives helped develop Rushy Lagoon, before it was sold to the British Tobacco Company in the 1960s.

"Rushy Lagoon used to run 55,000 sheep and 8,500 cows, so it was a pretty productive property back in the day," he said.

"I think it's got a lot of potential for livestock farming out in that area. "A lot more potential in my opinion than trees."

Dorset Council mayor Rhys Beattie agrees.
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Source: farmlandgrab.org