Dalby Saleyard holds cattle forum at Dalby Show for first time with event recording high attendance numbers
The Dalby Show has seen more than 5000 people stream through the gates, with the saleyards’ cattle forum benefiting from the booming crowds. SEE THE PHOTOS.
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The second largest selling sale yard in Australia, Dalby Saleyards has hosted a cattle forum at this year’s Dalby Show for the first time drawing strong crowds.
The saleyard sells an average 200,000 cattle annually and turned over $300m in cattle sales during the 2021-2022 financial year.
The annual forum was held at the Dalby Show for the first time, facilitating collaboration and education between key stakeholders.
Western Downs Regional Council facilities program development co-ordinator Alison Mobbs said the event was important to bring together industry heads and discuss the future of the industry.
“We invited stakeholders to the show to hear from different speakers on topics ranging from drought funding and nutrition, weed and pest management and biosecurity,” she said.
“We had a visit from the leader of the opposition Jarrod Bleijie, member for Warrego Ann Leahy, mayor Andrew Smith and four of our councillors so we had a really strong representation of leadership in the community as well as representation from the department of agriculture, AG Force Queensland and from our rural services team.
“It was a terrific day for producers, vendors, truck drivers, agents and regulators so it has been a big mix of stakeholders.”
Ms Mobbs said forums like these were important to ensure the longevity of the industry.
“We need to be biosecurity ready, if there is an emergency disease outbreak we need to be ready, we need to make sure we have all of our processes in place and ensure producers and vendors know what to do,” she said.
“Animal welfare is also a key concern, we work closely with regulators to ensure we are performing at best practice.
“It is a seasonal business and with the ebbs and flows of rainfall and market conditions it really impacts the viability of industry and has flown on affect's to all of the secondary industries.”
Ms Mobbs said cattle saleyards were vital to the region.
“Dalby Regional Sale Yard strives to achieve the key pillar of having a strong diverse economy,” she said.
“We recognise the importance of saleyards and want to show our leadership by hosting forums like this.
“We want to expose our stakeholders to best practice, to new initiatives and opportunities that are coming up.
“This is a significant national sale yard and our peak value was $300m in cattle sold so it is great to provide an outlet and market for our region and it also has a broader economic impact drawing in vendors from across Queensland, NSW and even South Australia.”
Councillor for business strategy and economic development Megan James echoed this.
“Agriculture and intensive ag are pillars of our economy and absolutely vital so the way we support producers and associated industries is such a vital part of our economy,” she said.
“Having a strong economy underpins everything in our region, our liveability and the way we move forward.”
Ms James and Ms Mobbs said the move to hosting the forum at the Dalby Show had been a positive one.
“Having it at the show for the first time means it has had a really nice vibe having it here, you can hear and see and smell the cattle while you’re here learning so it has been a nice collaboration between council and the show society,” Ms James said.
“People that came to watch the cattle judging this morning have come across to the forums so it’s attracted additional people that wouldn't have come to a stand alone event and the numbers are increased on previous events,” Ms Mobbs added.
Meanwhile Dalby Show numbers were high with treasurer Robert Parsons hailed the event a success.
“We are very happy with this year it shaped up to be one of the biggest show we have ever had,” he said.
“I don't ever recall having the number of people that early on a Friday morning we had at least 1000 through the door on the first morning and had over 5000 across the whole show.
“The displays were better than ever and I reckon the attendance was pretty blooming good.
“The machinery display was probably the biggest we’ve had in years, the pavilions were full and we had trade sites outside under the roof because it’s the only way we could fit them all in.”
Mr Parsons said the event was important for Dalby.
“Since Covid people have realised that they need people around them and this is a great way of making that happen,” he said.
“It's great to see it be so successful, the year of the flooding we had the front pavilion all set up and council came along and said to get out because it was an evacuation centre but that's life you’ve got to take what you can get.
“We just wanted people to come along and have a fun time.
“The whole show was great I reckon it was one big highlight, It was a great success.”
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