Cattle agents operating out of the Pakenham saleyard have begun to move their cattle and clients to Leongatha as the former nears its closure date.
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The Victorian Livestock Exchange (VLE) saleyard is due to close June 30, 2024, with just three remaining store sales scheduled.
Speaking to Stock & Land on Monday, VLE managing director Brian Paynter was adamant that Pakenham will remain open for agents to trade cattle up until the end.
However, he said if agents wished to move their business to Leongatha early, that was up to them.
Pakenham's fortnightly Thursday store sale saw numbers start to dwindle in recent weeks with yardings as small as 1500.
The surge in cattle numbers at the yard was partly down to Pakenham-based agent Everitt, Seeley and Bennetts (ESB) selling stores for the first time at the sale, with almost 1400 head.
ESB auctioneer Jarrod Bennetts said it was a "win, win" for his clients and buyers.
At this Wednesday's prime cattle sale in Leongatha, Baw Baw Livestock will follow suit.
Baw Baw Livestock auctioneer Steven Boulton said he was looking forward to "getting a bit of a feel" for Leongatha.
The agent will sell 140 head of prime cattle at the sale including prime export bullocks and a few trader cattle.
Overall, he said the closure of Pakenham was "very disappointing" and suggested that it might even happen before June 30.
Mr Boulton said he was already seeing smaller clients starting to sell their stock on-farm or through Auctions Plus and said this would likely continue.
He said smaller farmers around the Mornington Peninsula were already struggling to find hauliers to bring cattle to Leongatha, as demand there was already so high.
"If Pakenham closes, maybe Sale and Bairnsdale will pick up the overflow," he said.
He said the Baw Baw Livestock team, based at Pakenham, were likely to be moving to offices in Drouin or Koonwarra.
"We've got to go somewhere but we haven't thought that far ahead yet," he said.
Mr Paynter said it was up to each Pakenham agent to decide where they wanted to sell their cattle.
"If all the agents decide that they want to sell more cattle down to Leongatha [before Pakenham's planned closing date], that's their choice," he said.
"Whether or not other agents want to continue selling in Pakenham, that's up to them."
Change
Elders Delaney agent Zac Gleeson said agents were being forced to move business to Leongatha, if they wanted to get the best prices for their clients' cattle.
"The fat lady hasn't sung but she's already warming up," he quipped.
He said while weaners were still doing well at Pakenham's smaller sales, heavier stock would be better off in Leongatha as there were now more buyers there.
He said those selling such cattle in Pakenham could be left with prices $200 back on what they could get elsewhere.
"Even if we want to support Pakenham, you can't sell your cattle in a facility that is not going to draw the buyers," he said.
Mr Gleeson said Pakenham was going to see smaller and smaller yardings as its closure date neared.
"Whether we like it or not, this is the change we're going to have to make," he said.
"Everything is going to slowly peter out."
Once Pakenham closes, VLE was planning to facilitate a weekly store sale at Leongatha from July.
There will be a prime cattle sale every Tuesday and a store cattle sale every Thursday.
In Leongatha on Friday, there was discussion on whether this change to cope with the bigger influx of cattle could be brought forward.
Nutrien auctioneer Brian McCormack said the commencement of the weekly market would depend on what agents do.
"It depends on what happens with the Pakenham agents and what they decide to do," he said.
"Will they move forward?
"If they do that, well, we'll probably have to go weekly quicker.
"It's a sort of watch and see on that."
However, Mr Paynter said the weekly sales would not commence until July.
"It'll be difficult to change it before Pakenham closes," he said.
He said once the weekly Thursday store sale starts, he was not concerned about Mortlake's fortnightly store sale of a Thursday clashing.
"There will be some clashes but the vendors, agents and buyers will figure it out," he said.
"There will be a levelling out of numbers and time will sort it."
Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) Bass Strait president Bill Cleeland, Philip Island, said Pakenham was slowly "dying out".
The 160-cow beef farmer said it remained to be seen if those small buyers who usually sought cattle from Pakenham would go down to Leongatha at all.
He said many vendors in his area were struggling to get cattle transported, particularly those selling smaller pens.
"The elephant in the room is the online stuff," he said.
Mr Cleeland said he and many farmers were "seriously considering" using Auctions Plus and selling directly off farm.
All agents spoken to by Stock & Land agreed that Pakenham's closure would see many small farmers in the area move away from selling stock through a saleyard altogether.
They said they were working to support those clients as they trialled an alternative approach.
