Victorian graziers and livestock agents have remembered Pakenham's saleyards as a facility that revolutionised the cattle industry and paved the way for new nationwide industry standards.
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The final pens of cattle were sold at the Victorian Livestock Exchange at Pakenham shortly after 3pm on Thursday, June 27, ending 165 years of agricultural saleyards in metropolitan Melbourne since Newmarket opened in 1859.
Graziers will be forced to send their cattle to alternate facilities moving forward, like Leongatha, Yea, Sale, Bairnsdale and Ballarat - along with the Pakenham agents who have transitioned to Leongatha and Yea.
![A group photo made up of graziers, agents and onlookers after the last pen of cattle was sold at Pakenham on June 27, 2024. Picture by Bryce Eishold A group photo made up of graziers, agents and onlookers after the last pen of cattle was sold at Pakenham on June 27, 2024. Picture by Bryce Eishold](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/bryce.eishold/c0e3879f-0f11-4c28-b857-14d162c80b42_rotated_270.JPG/r0_180_3024_4032_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Stock agents and graziers, both retired and current, along with people linked to Victoria's agriculture sector made up the gallery of onlookers.
More than 200 spectators were still in attendance when the final bid was secured more than six hours after the sale started.
Former VLE operations manager Bruce Redpath, who works as a livestock agent at Elders Mortlake, made the trip from western Victoria to reflect on the saleyard which he managed from 1999-2002.
"People had never seen a set of yards like it when they opened that were undercover and with a soft floor," he said.
"It was unbelievable at the time and it is still a state-of-the-art selling facility even after 25 years."
The owners of the yards, VLE, announced the facility would cease to exist from June 30 in November last year after revealing the company was forking out $10,000 a week in land tax, or more than $550,000 a year.
![Victorian Livestock Exchange founding chairman Graham Osborne said the Pakenham saleyards set a new standard for the livestock industry. Picture by Bryce Eishold Victorian Livestock Exchange founding chairman Graham Osborne said the Pakenham saleyards set a new standard for the livestock industry. Picture by Bryce Eishold](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/bryce.eishold/e1563e83-d4be-4e12-a07c-2138e6704732.JPG/r0_131_4928_2913_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In an address to spectators, founding VLE chairman Graham Osborne revealed the owners would have had to increase yard fees by $5-$10 a head on each beast to cover the cost, but acknowledged they did not want to pass the cost onto the rural sector and opted to sell the facility instead.
He said Pakenham already had the highest yard fees in Victoria.
"I think our legacy is a good one and the standard of undercover, soft-floor (saleyards) for high rainfall areas is paramount," he said.
"Nobody would consider building a saleyard these days without following a rough template of what we've done (at Pakenham)."
The first two pens of the sale were bought by Melbourne-based commission buyer Campbell Ross, who said the cattle were destined for a feedlot in the Riverina, NSW.
![The usually-quiet car park near the loading ramps was full. Picture by Bryce Eishold The usually-quiet car park near the loading ramps was full. Picture by Bryce Eishold](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/bryce.eishold/484a0084-dd03-493c-b857-36e1234199f5.JPG/r0_241_4928_3023_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The pens were sold by Everitt Seeley & Bennetts and consigned by Noel and Margaret Williams, Bangholme, and Peter Chapman, Moorooduc.
Retired livestock buyer Graham Bowman, Pakenham, caught a glimpse of some of the sale and bought the first beast at Pakenham when the facility opened on February 2, 1999.
At the time, Mr Bowman was working for Pakenham abattoir G & K O'Connor, where he ended up working for 48 years.
"O'Connors wanted to buy the first vealer or beast regardless of the price," Mr Bowman, who retired 18 months ago, said.
"I was the top bidder on it and from memory I paid $3500-$4000, it was a lot better than the market price, put it that way."
![Agent Mick Hornsby, Elders Delaney Livestock & Property, Ascot Vale, sold his last pen of cattle at Pakenham, alongside his daughters and grandsons, Harry and Nicole Busuttil, Essendon, Carolyn and Lucas, 9, Rawiller, Ascot Vale. Picture by Bryce Eishold Agent Mick Hornsby, Elders Delaney Livestock & Property, Ascot Vale, sold his last pen of cattle at Pakenham, alongside his daughters and grandsons, Harry and Nicole Busuttil, Essendon, Carolyn and Lucas, 9, Rawiller, Ascot Vale. Picture by Bryce Eishold](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/bryce.eishold/ed523bdb-57cb-4826-b952-0073bce37e25.jpeg/r0_125_4032_2392_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Veteran livestock agent Mick Hornsby, 83, attracted a round of applause when he auctioned his last pen of steers at Pakenham before his inevitable retirement.
Mr Hornsby was supported by his two daughters and grandsons at the sale and was one of the inaugural stock agents to work out of Pakenham when it opened 25 years ago.
"I worked as Mick Hornsby & Co at Newmarket, and then Dandenong from 1987 and eventually we moved here to Pakenham," he said.
"When the VLE had a meeting with agents recently down at Koonwarra, Graham Osborne got up and said, 'I don't want anyone inviting Mick Hornsby to Koonwarra because every yard he's been to they've shut'.
"It brought the joint down... they all pissed themselves laughing."
![VLE shareholder Trudy Van Vliet, Neerim South, with her sons Jake and Cooper. Picture by Bryce Eishold VLE shareholder Trudy Van Vliet, Neerim South, with her sons Jake and Cooper. Picture by Bryce Eishold](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/bryce.eishold/cf3e98b8-8837-43d4-8e3f-1b844061dbbf.JPG/r0_482_4928_3264_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
VLE shareholder and grazier Trudy Van Vliet, Neerim South, attended the sale with her three adult-aged sons in honour of her late husband Robert Van Vliet who played a crucial role in the early days of the complex.
"My husband was the main plumber at the VLE for a long time and he actually installed the shed, the roof and did all the plumbing here," she said.
"Today is a bit of a nostalgic day for us to come and look at the last sale, to enjoy the atmosphere and to actually represent him.
"It meant the world to me to be there."
![Former Alex Scott & Staff general manager Graeme Kershaw, 89, Berwick, attended the final sale at Pakenham. Picture by Bryce Eishold Former Alex Scott & Staff general manager Graeme Kershaw, 89, Berwick, attended the final sale at Pakenham. Picture by Bryce Eishold](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/bryce.eishold/78c92e1e-9b8b-41c2-ac01-affafa104da9.JPG/r0_263_4928_3045_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Former Alex Scott & Staff general manager Graeme Kershaw, 89, started working for the Scotts in 1966 and said Pakenham's saleyards "revolutionised" how cattle were sold across Victoria and further afield.
"It was such a change to be undercover after working at Dandenong all the years out in the open," he said.
"The conditions were the big thing I remember from the early days of Pakenham, it made a huge difference.
"The VLE's systems, their accounting and how they helped put the sale together with the agents was just amazing, it was something we had never seen before."
Everitt Seeley & Bennetts director Les Seeley sold the last pen of the sale, a charity heifer donated by an undisclosed buyer which made $6000, and described his time at Pakenham as "wonderful".
"I've spent over half my working life here," he said.
Mr Seeley issued a plea to Mr Osborne and VLE managing director Brian Paynter as the agents from Pakenham transitioned to the VLE-owned yards at Leongatha.
"We have to accept change and we'll head on to Leongatha, but Graham and Brian, I must say we welcome going to Leongatha, but I insist we have a good relationship there and that is managed well and managed with a lot of common sense," he said.
"That's the feeling of most of the agents here and the vendors, we expect a professional presentation on behalf of the VLE."
Cattle at the VLE will be required to be removed from the site by no later than 10am Sunday.
The truck wash will close on Sunday night and the gates will be locked to the public at midnight on June 30.
Agents will have less than a fortnight to remove their belongings from the facility before the saleyards are dismantled and removed by the end of 2024.
The last pen of the sale, which included one heifer, was bought by Alex Scott & Staff Pakenham livestock manager David Setches on behalf of the company.
![The three last cattle sold at Pakenham were spray painted, with these two featuring 'RIP' and 'PAX', signalling the closure of the VLE. Picture by Bryce Eishold The three last cattle sold at Pakenham were spray painted, with these two featuring 'RIP' and 'PAX', signalling the closure of the VLE. Picture by Bryce Eishold](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/bryce.eishold/7e8b4add-25bb-4eeb-ab16-c0b0171b5e6d.JPG/r0_252_4928_3034_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The heifer was spray painted 'RIP', while two cattle in the adjoining pen were spray painted 'RIP' and 'PAX', signalling the end of the Pakenham saleyards.
"The last beast to be purchased out of Dandenong was bought by Roly Hewson, the livestock manager of Alex Scott & Staff at Dandenong at the time," Mr Setches said.
"We just figured that it happened at Dandenong and it would be a nice thing for the company and the history to do it again."