Selling more than 10,000 cattle in a series of sales over two days in Victoria’s high country creates unique logistic challenges.
Windy roads, restricted truck access and changeable mountain weather patterns, makes selling and transporting these calves an even more impressive feat.
David Hill said the Elders team hosted a total of four sales over Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15, which included a sale at Omeo on each of those days.
He said improving the water supply in the holding yards, which was completed in time for last year’s sales, had made it easier to manage the cattle.
Mr Hill said there were 240 transport movements into the sales. He said many of the truck drivers had worked the sales in previous years and that experience helped it run smoothly.
In the lead-up to the sales, it was “all hands on deck”, Mr Hill said. About 40 staff including local casuals and Elders employees from other districts help to get the calves in the yards and ready to sell and Mr Hill said their preparations started eight weeks out, to ensure paperwork was complete should calves be purchased to go interstate.
In previous years, the renowned Mountain Calves have been send throughout Victoria, south-east South Australia, the southern Riverina and as far north as Moree NSW and beyond.
Another thing that had made preparations easier was now about 90 per cent of the calves yarded had been weaned, Mr Hill said.
Sharp Fullgrabe hosts a sale at Hinnomunjie on the Tuesday morning, before the Elders series.
Graeme Fullgrabe said they expected 1800 steer and heifer calves. He said because the region had started to dry off, many cows had started weaning the calves themselves which meant they would hit the ground running when they got onto the successful buyers’ farms and feedlots.
Transport coordinators have to consider weather and truck restrictions when organising loads out off the Mountain Calf Sales.
Martins Haulage transport co-ordinator John Crawford said the number of trucks they would send up to the sales depended on how many cattle their clients bought.
But, he is expecting to have five or six B-doubles transporting cattle down from the alpine region’s saleyards, and could send in single-trailer trucks depending on where the cattle are headed.
In previous years, Mr Crawford and his colleagues have driven cattle to northern NSW or Queensland, and the cattle have had a spell at Wagga before continuing north.
He’s not sure whether as many cattle will be sent to that area as it is in need of rain.
Mr Crawford goes to the sales himself to determine the weather conditions are safe to drive loaded trucks down off the mountains.
This is particularly important on the Benambra-Corryong Road, on which transporters can get a permit to drive B-doubles, but 86.5km of it remains unsealed. It is well used by logging trucks and is said to be well maintained.
Mr Crawford lives on the northern side of the mountains and over his lifetime, has learnt to pick the changeable weather better.
“For these sales, we prefer to use older drivers, including those who have driven log trucks and know the roads,” he said.
For these sales, we prefer to use older drivers, including those who have driven log trucks and know the roads.
- John Crawford, Martins Haulage transport co-ordinator
“And we only cart out cattle from these sales for our existing clients for these sales.”
Dom Shanahan said while transporters could apply for permits to drive B-doubles on some of the mountain roads, his family’s Shanahan’s Livestock Transport tended to bring cattle out in single trailers.
They also have facilities to spell the cattle at Barnawartha, if the calves are headed into northern NSW or Queensland.
Because Shanahan’s cart some of the cattle in, they often have trucks in the area.
Because multiple sales are held on each day and Mr Shanahan said he prefers the driver stay over night and load up calves the next morning, rather than start their journey at dusk or later – particularly if they are headed north.
B-doubles are approved on the Great Alpine Rd between Omeo and Bruthen, to take calves south and then onto many other regions.
Mr Shanahan expects the Gippsland buyers to dominate this year’s sales, as some northern competitors have not had enough rains.
Depending on the year, calves can be sent throughout Victoria and interstate and Mr Shanahan said they carted calves for many repeat buyers who sought these specialist annual drafts, which represented the best of the vendors’ well-bred and good-doing calves.
“There’s probably half a dozen carriers in every year and it’s not a drama; we just have to make sure we drive to conditions and are prepared.”
