Wangaratta saleyards could be in producer hands within months

ONE of northern Victoria’s biggest cattle selling centres could be run by producers within a few months.

Greg Mirabella Wangaratta branch president of VFF in the upgraded Wangaratta yards

ONE of northern Victoria’s biggest cattle selling centres could be run by producers within a few months.

Expressions of interest for a producer co-operative to run the council-owned Wangaratta saleyards are being sought in handing over the operation.

Rural City of Wangaratta chief administrator Ailsa Fox said the council passed a resolution to “declare its intention to lease the saleyards to a producers-based co-operative”.

Ms Fox said there were no moves by the council to sell the yards, but acknowledged that the administrators were concerned the saleyards would lose business to the Northern Victorian Livestock Exchange at Barnawartha.

“We have the strong feeling that producers would support our yards with cattle if they could be involved with the management of the yards,” Ms Fox said. “A producer co-operative would have the ability to decide rates of fees, and even things like sale days.

“A producer would buy shares and then some would be elected to run the yards.

“The council would retain the right to appoint one skills-based person to the co-oper­ative, which could be an accountant or a legal person.”

Ms Fox said the council would hold meetings in the new year to gauge the support of producers for a co-operative model.

She said the administrators of the council would like to see the issue of who runs the yards settled by March or April.

“The yards are quite a profitable business but with Barn­awartha (NVLX) up the road, we need loyalty [producers selling cattle] to make the yards a success,” Ms Fox said.

“If producers have ownership of the yards [though being run by a co-operative] then they will use it.

“The whole reason council is going down this path is to ensure the future success of the yards.”

Victorian Farmers Federation Wangaratta branch president Greg Mirabella said the group’s position was a preference for the saleyards management to stay in council hands.

“If a genuine group of ­people want to run the yards as a co-operative, that is fine, but we would prefer the yards still to be run by the council,” Mr Mirabella said.

“As producers, we know that there should be a set of yards in Wangaratta.”

Mr Mirabella said the group had no philosophical issues with a co-operative model but it was a process that council “should be looking at with a longer term view”.

“They (council]) should be getting the revamped yards running better and gradually transitioning to a producer-agent co-op,” Mr Mirabella said. “It should underwrite the process, maintaining its own stake for as long as it takes.

“I don’t think they really understand that when the mun­icipality runs a sale yards operation, it acts as the impartial arbiter for the competitive tensions between producers, agents, and buyers.

“This (change) cannot be imposed overnight.”