Graziers look to Yea as an alternative weeks out from Pakenham's closure

The council-owned Yea Saleyards sold cattle from as far away Deniliquin, NSW, Caldermeade, Pomborneit, Trafalgar and Caldermeade at Friday's 4000-head feature autumn sale, with many of those vendors navigating yards in closer proximity.

In one case, cattle were trucked from Dargo to Yea, an almost six-hour journey.

Elders Yea livestock manager Jamie Quinlan said about 2000 cattle at Friday's feature sale would have previously gone under the hammer at Pakenham.

"We know there have been some really big sales at Leongatha with 5000 and 6000 cattle, and when you put together a feature sale with 95 per cent of the yarding Angus, people want to be a part of it," he said.

"It goes without saying, the Yea saleyards are going to try and capture as much of that market north of Melbourne, into the Yarra Valley, in and around Pakenham and throughout Gippsland."

The saleyards have an annual throughput of about 33,000 cattle, but Mr Quinlan said the saleyard would nudge 40,000 cattle for the 2023-24 financial year, largely due to the shock decision by the VLE to close Pakenham on June 30.

"Next year we will certainly exceed 40,000," Mr Quinlan said.

In comparison, Leongatha has sold 75,116 store cattle since July 1, 2023.

Among the vendors at Yea on Friday was Werai Station, Deniliquin, which runs an Angus operation comprising 700 breeding females.

In the last two months, the operation has sold more than 400 steers direct to feedlots.

Elders agent Carlo Taranto, Melbourne, said Werai Station's run of 38 Angus, August and September 2023-drop, steers averaged $1560 or 386 cents a kilogram.

"We felt that the market was lifting and because we coordinated the right cattle for the right sale and we knew the right buyers were going to be there, we were happy to go with the market in this instance," he said.

The buying gallery was dominated by several feedlotters and commission buyers, including Duncan Brown, Albury, NSW, who bought 370 heifers for backgrounders in NSW, while another commission buyer, Andrew Lowe, Wagga Wagga, NSW, bought 500 head for clients in the north.

Gippsland grazier Mick Sweeney, Dargo, was one vendor who opted to send his cattle to Yea for the first time on the advice of his agent.

Mr Sweeney and his partner Christine Bila sold 65 Herefords, 10-12 months, including 50 steers which averaged $970 or 380c/kg.

"I reckon I was $200 up on what I would have got in Bairnsdale or Leongatha," he said.

"The autumn sale suits us at this time of year because the calves had been weaned for over a month, they had had all their treatments and they were ready to go.

"It cost me an extra $25 per head in freight to send them to Yea instead of Bairnsdale and it paid eightfold."

Mr Sweeney said the cattle were born in Dargo and grazed on the Dargo High Plains, walking the 50-kilometre journey in December and returning home in April.

"South Gippsland doesn't have a lot of grass at the moment, so we thought we would take them a bit north to attract the northern buyers," he said.