New Mortlake saleyards: Great turnout for opening
THE Western Victoria Livestock Exchange is open for business, and producers in the area couldn’t be happier.
THE Western Victoria Livestock Exchange is open for business, and producers in the area couldn’t be happier.
The first prime cattle sale was held at the new centre at Mortlake on Monday, with close to 2500 cattle offered and buyers from major processors operating.
The $16 million yards’ proximity to producers and state-of-the-art facilities, described by vendors as “the best in the state”, are key reasons behind producers’ support for WVLX.
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Bruce and Scott Bell run an Angus herd about 20km from the new yards, and said the soft floors, roof, and volume of cattle were what attracted them to Mortlake, when they used to sell at Warrnambool.
“It has to be 9C cooler under the roof, which is a lot better for the animals so we will be supporting these yards big time,” Scott said.
“The numbers help as well, it attracts more buyers if they can come in and buy a B-double load from one market.”
WVLX agents association president Bruce Redpath said numbers on Monday were supported by a good group of growers from the local area, and the buyers commented on it being “the best-quality yarding in the Western District for some time”.
Breeding Hereford cattle only 10km away, Peter Allen of South Boorook has been “very enthusiastic” about the yards since they were announced.
“I particularly like to see the cattle being moved with horses here, the facilities are just excellent and I have 60 booked in for the first store sale in February,” he said.
But the incident seemed to have little impact on the opening sale, with vendors commenting that, now the facility had been built, they would benefit from it regardless of who was operating it.
A charity auction was held prior to the prime sale, with four donated steers making a total of $17,000 for local charities.
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