Echuca saleyard is booming

He attributed the boost in numbers to other regional saleyards closing down, specifically the Pakenham saleyard, which led the saleyard to go from fortnightly to weekly sales.

“So since we’ve gone weekly, we’ve been yarding 1300 to 1500 cattle a week,” Mr O’Connor said.

The increase in numbers hasn’t lowered prices, with Meat & Livestock Australia reporting Echuca as being consistently 30c/kg higher than other comparable Victorian saleyards.

Pakenham was known as the place for grainfed cattle, which Echuca saleyard has also capitalised on.

“We’ve got a number of cattle producers in the area, that do a lot of grain feeding and lot feeding, and it’s really good to see those guys get rewarded for effort,” Mr O’Connor said.

Leongatha has been a competitor when it comes to heavy steer prices, but from early August, Echuca has overtaken it.

However, over the past few months, prices have been rising in Bairnside, Wodonga, Leongatha and Echuca.

From June 4 to September 3, Echuca has seen a 93c/kg increase in heavy steer price, Leongatha, 90c/kg, Wodonga, 110c/kg and Bairnside, 107c/kg.

Of the four regional saleyards, Leongatha had been leading the pack, but on August 8 it was overtaken by Echuca.

However, they have all remained within 80c of each other for the past three months.

At the most recent sale at each of the four, Echuca had a total yarding of 1650, Leongatha, 1500, Wodonga, 500 and Bairnside, 371.

Echuca saleyard hosts weekly sales on Wednesdays from 8am.

It is owned and operated by Campaspe Shire Council.

It features up-to-date technology including livestock exchange software and ALEIS scanning equipment to cover the requirements of the National Livestock Identification Scheme.

It offers covered yards with a soft woodchip floor, providing optimal conditions to help producers get the best market price for their products.

The saleyard is located at 520 McKenzie Rd, Echuca. The Property Identification Code is 3SYDA564.