Urgent action needed to save our saleyards

THE TIME IS NOW: Wangaratta councillor Harvey Benton says a committee of local experts in the livestock industry needs to be installed to optimise financial returns from the saleyards. PHOTO: Emma Hillier

A GAMBLE on a $3.7 million Wangaratta Saleyards upgrade could backfire if swift moves aren’t made to kick-start the asset’s management and marketing.

This is a warning put out by Wangaratta councillor and livestock industry expert Harvey Benton yesterday with an urgent call for a committee of management to be installed to run the yards.

The exchange in 2015 had the multi-million dollar investment carried out to install a roof and reticulated water recycling system, to shore up the future of the asset.

But Cr Benton has identified a lack of management based on intimate knowledge of the industry, no business plan and marketing strategy as gaping holes in the prosperity of the venue’s future.

Several key local producers are also choosing to sell their cattle at Barnawartha’s saleyards instead of Wangaratta due to “perceived higher prices”.

Cr Benton shifts some of the blame towards livestock agents for telling producers to sell their cattle at Barnawartha in an industry that has numerous influences working against it.

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