Colossal yardings trigger problems

Since the start of 2015 fat cattle prices have risen dramatically, and producers have loaded up markets seeking a piece of the action.

Last week there were some exceptionally sized yardings, and for some selling centres this created problems.

I have had several people contact me, mostly from the processing side, about the Wodonga sale on Tuesday, January 20, where agents offered 5200 cattle.

Similar to most sales of that week, the excessive supply saw agents having to re-pen as most centres do not have enough selling pens.

This is not uncommon when numbers swell to these levels, but it does create management issues.

I spoke with VLE Pakenham and Leongatha manager Wayne Osborne who said it can be tricky, but not insurmountable to handle these unusually large yardings.

Wagga Wagga, NSW, agents penned 7200-head on the Monday, and the sale went for 12 hours, but as one buyer said, "that is the nature of the beast".

Wodonga agents had to re-pen, but the agents were either non-committal, or they were happy with the way the day went.

I believe the bigger picture came post sale, when cattle were late being delivered, or mis-delivered, and trucks were waiting.

Transport these days, with the new regulations, cannot be sitting around for hours as this takes away from their 'drivable' hours.

Capping this off, some buyers were doing the delivering themselves – which potentially placed them at risk.

A large amount of angst stems from the shift from the old yards to the new at Barnawatha.

The store sale on February 12 will be the first in the new centre, and given the huge yarding at Wodonga last week, many are debating whether the new yards will be big enough for such a yarding, and if the staff are capable of handling it.

Only time will determine this.

A number of people from all over the industry are asking "Why fix something that is not broken?".

One agent said the situation at Wodonga was political.

Why did council approve the new complex? Was it because of the site value of the current, soon-to-be-old yards? If this site is so valuable, why did the council not undertake this task themselves?

More recently, nearby the current saleyard, on the northern side, the neighbouring land was sold for residential houses.

We all know that this would soon mean "it's noisy, and it smells – the council should close it down".

Was this a trigger point for the relocation, or was the relocation a trigger for extra housing, which would bring in more revenue for the council?

All of these are questions, and statements that I have heard throughout my enquiries.

As one agent said, January is their busiest month with their annual steer and heifer, and female sales combining with a traditionally heavy month for prime cattle.

The move to the new yards will also create other issues.

Transport operators have spoken with me about their concerns. One of the major ones is the safety of the truck drivers and the public, when trucks are leaving the new complex.

In the wisdom, or lack of it, when referral authorities had the chance to impose conditions on the permit, why was this not taken up?

In a situation such as the new saleyard at Barnawartha, VicRoads would have been one such authority.

They should have included a condition to have a safe slip road from the yard on both sides, as this road is under their control.