How producers bypassed saleyards in past financial year

Saleyard offerings in some states took a dive in the past financial year. See which saleyards did well and where numbers fell.

Fewer livestock producers favoured saleyards in 2022-23, figures just released in an industry survey show.

Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia all had falls in saleyard throughput for both sheep and cattle in the past financial year.

And NSW was the only state where numbers increased, with sheep yardings up 6.8 per cent and cattle lifting 7.3 per cent, while Queensland sheep yardings were also up 36.6 per cent, albeit from a low base.

Yet it seems some either opted to sell more direct, or to hold onto stock during the past the financial year in many states.

In Victoria, 14.1 per cent fewer cattle and 8.7 per cent fewer sheep were sold in the major saleyards according to the survey results released by the National Livestock Reporting Service.

Wodonga was the second biggest cattle saleyards in Victoria.

NLRS acting operations manager Ripley Atkinson said the survey was voluntary with the goal of letting industry know how saleyards were tracking.

“This type of livestock throughput information can inform investment, strategic direction of and into saleyards, as well as highlighting the social, economic and cultural value saleyards provide to rural and regional communities,” Mr Atkinson said.

Mr Atkinson said close to 16.4 million transactions were made across sheep and cattle, down from 16.8 million in the previous financial year.

“The cyclical nature of the herd and flock rebuilds alongside changing market conditions can be attributed to adjustments in livestock supply via the saleyards as producers choose different sales channels to market their stock,” Mr Atkinson said.

The biggest cattle saleyard in the nation was Roma, Queensland, with 244,778 cattle yarded in the past financial year.

Victoria’s biggest cattle saleyard was Leongatha with 127,241 cattle, but this was 32,391 fewer or 20 per cent less than the previous financial year.

Pakenham, which is fourth in terms of throughput, also had a check in numbers, down from 109,048 to 92,485 or back about 15 per cent.

Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre is the biggest sheep saleyards in Australia.

The nation’s biggest sheep yards is Wagga Wagga, NSW, with 2,125,276, up 6 per cent on the financial year before.

Victoria’s biggest sheep saleyards was Ballarat, with 1,422,487 yarded in 2022-23.