60th year at the Casterton saleyards

His Casterton property Glencairn has a number of outlaying blocks spread from Chetwynd in the north to Merino in the south.

And this year just for something a little different he chalks up his 60th year at the Casterton saleyards; all of those conducted by Elders.

He said former Elders employees Jack Clayton and Col McDonald were the ones who must be credited for kicking off the Casterton sales back in 1954 when cattle were sold through a central selling ring under an old rotunda which was heritage listed by the National Trust a number of years back.

The Casterton selling ring, Mr Upton said, was good for the spectators but not so good for the cattle that were hunted in and out of the ring a lot of times in sweltering hot conditions as they were being sold.

He said the quality of the cattle throughout the Casterton district had improved immensely over the years as most people would recognise because of the better bulls and better females that are being selected for breeding.

While Mr Upton said there were a lot of things he may have forgotten, he still remembered the best prices that he had ever received for his cattle, which was the equivalent of 255c/kg for steers and 265c/kg for heifers.

That was a few years back but he also vividly remembers that back in 1980s his prices overall averaged $400 a head, while last year, almost 35 years later, his prices weren't a lot better, averaging about $550.

He said that one thing he had learnt about the cattle industry over the years is that market is never good for long before it collapses.

About 15 years ago he said he bought another property to run his cattle.

Steers at the time, he said, were sold for about $250 a head, and over the next four years the market increased about $100 a head each year.

But then on reaching $650 when prices were considered acceptable, the market collapsed and it has had to start all over again to rebuild.

However, Mr Upton said that weaner sales, as they run today, were a good opportunity for sellers and buyers to trade locally without the huge cost of transport.

Selling direct to buyers, he said, would be a better idea.

"But the industry has got to have a price setting mechanism and it's the best we've got in its current format," he said.

Mr Upton will sell at Casterton, with Elders, about 400 of his Yarram Park-blood Glencairn Hereford steers on January 9 and 200 heifers on January 16.