Gina Rinehart's $500 million dairy export venture spanning 5000 hectares of farmland, a new dairy herd and milk powder plant, is on hold.
Economic factors are thought to be behind the change of heart by the mining billionaire, and the land already bought for the venture in Queensland will instead be used for the production of Wagyu cattle, according to ABC Rural.
According to the report, the dairy, which would have been Australia's largest integrated dairy and milk processing facility, could still go ahead in the future.
News of Rinehart's venture to tap demand for infant formula in China surfaced last November and the plan included building a processing plant in Queensland's Mary Valley.
Production was expected to begin in the second half of next year with the aim of producing as much as 30,000 tonnes of formula a year, as well as UHT milk.
The dairy was also expected to use new labelling technology capable of linking each package of powder right back the specific animal that produced the milk it was made from.
