Leongatha holding pens, scales not fit for purpose ahead of Pakenham closure

Agents, vendors and buyers say critical infrastructure improvements, including upgrades to how cattle are processed and weighed, will need to be introduced to maximise animal welfare and the saleyards' capacity.

More than 1000 cattle were turned away from Leongatha's 6000-head store sale on Friday, with graziers told to hold onto their cattle for at least another two weeks due to the mammoth market.

Nutrien South Gippsland Livestock director Terry Ginnane said his agency alone turned away 500 from the May 10 sale.

The big yarding was bolstered by the inclusion of agency Everitt, Seeley and Bennetts, which sold cattle at Leongatha for the first time after being displaced by Pakenham's imminent closure.

"The saleyards can cope with the numbers that were there, but you definitely wouldn't have wanted any more than 6000 cattle," Mr Ginnane said.

Two vendors who spoke to Stock & Land on the condition of anonymity said they were disappointed with the state of several pens at Leongatha on Friday, including one pen where cattle were covered from "head to toe" in mud because of a leaking water tap.

The jump in throughput has been caused by the surprise move to close the Pakenham saleyards on Livestock Way by June 30, a decision its owner, the Victorian Livestock Exchange, made in November.

The decision was due to the rising land taxes and other associated costs to run the saleyard.

The VLE, which also owns the Leongatha facility, said store cattle sales in South Gippsland would move from fortnightly to weekly from July 4, and be held on Thursdays instead of Fridays.

"Even though we will go weekly, it doesn't necessarily mean we won't run into this problem again," Mr Ginnane said.

"Our agency work doesn't just revolve around the work we do in saleyards, we assist on farms with drenching and drafting for instance, and there is other work agents do outside of the saleyards.

"Moving store sales to a weekly basis will mean a fair portion of our week is going to be spent in the yards."

Mr Ginnane said a possible solution to the problem could be to implement a similar sales fixture to that at Wodonga, where agents sell cattle on alternating weeks.

SEJ Leongatha livestock manager James Kyle said such a move would limit the time each agent spent at the VLE.

"We clearly have to have weekly store sales... it's a massive workload though, so we may need to look at having half of the agents sell one week, and the other half sell the following week," he said.

"You might need to divide steers one week, and heifers and crossbred cattle on the odd week.

"We don't want to be judgemental to the VLE whatsoever, but it's our workplace too and we have to make it right for everyone all the way from the staff right through to stock."

Questions over Leongatha's infrastructure were also raised, with some people declaring the facility lacks adequate pens to hold cattle between the time of sale and transit, as well as how cattle are fed.

"There are systems in other saleyards that work more efficiently compared to what we see at the VLE in Koonwarra," he said.

"With the numbers coming through at the moment, we cannot provide a decent holding facility.

"For example, if cattle are bought and take two or three days until their transport arrives, our holding and feeding facility struggles to cope and needs to be desperately upgraded."

The former owner of the now-defunct Korumburra saleyards and one of the largest vendors at Leongatha, Ross Svenson, Tarwin Lower, said there was no easy solution to the problem, but investment in infrastructure would address issues around an influx of cattle.

He said agents from Pakenham and Leongatha needed to "adjust to the rapid change" to address the situation.

"We have better systems in other saleyards, like Ballarat and Barnawatha and Carcaor, NSW," he said.

"The weighing system and the cattle facilities for long stays need a lot of investment.

"We need a new design, particularly the weighing areas at Koonwarra because the current setup is simply put is inefficient and not up to the task required for a saleyard as big as Leongatha."

VLE managing director Brian Paynter said the company faced "significant change and challenges ahead".

"To cope with the increased numbers the VLE has developed a masterplan for the Leongatha saleyards which includes a new four-bay truck wash, a 9000-square-metre lairage shed, undercover holding yards, covered sheep yards and new agent's offices and amenities," Mr Paynter said.

"The Leongatha saleyard is the number one saleyard in Victoria and on track to become the busiest saleyard in Australia.

"We are renowned for providing the best flooring of any saleyard in Australia and we aim to maintain this position.

"We are confident that with the support of our local council and the strength of the South Gippsland Stock Agents Association the Leongatha saleyards will continue to play a vital and ever increasing role in the cattle industry."