CONSTRUCTION has started on the $14 million South Eastern Livestock Exchange at Yass, outside Canberra, with expectations that up to 1.5 million livestock could sell through its gates annually, acting as an incentive to boost production on farms in the area.
The businessmen behind the venture, Brendan Abbey and Colin Medway, are working with two banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank, to finalise more funding for the facility.
The exchange, which will have selling-pen capacity of 3800 fat cattle and 30,000 sheep and lambs, sits on a 14-hectare site strategically located at the junction of seven large highways and arterial roads close to Hume Highway.
More than 1.2 million sheep and 150,000 head of cattle will pass through the site every year.
There has been some controversy about the new yards because they could force the closure of many old saleyards, including Goulburn, Braidwood and Oaks Estate. The Goulburn saleyards handle about 45,000 cattle and 250,000 sheep a year.
"The last few years have seen a period of ongoing rationalisation of traditional saleyard facilities in favour of more efficient regional selling centres," Mr Abbey said.
"These larger, safer, efficient and more environmentally sensitive facilities have proven to be the way of the future."
The new facilities had been developed to replace ageing, local government or privately owned and operated yards and they would serve as an incentive for increased production, he said.
Mr Medway said there were 12 individual livestock companies that had committed to selling in the facility and some were coming from other saleyards, such as Moss Vale.
"The local Moss Vale sales yards will keep going - they have just been given a grant - but they are specialised and they don't really compete with us," Mr Medway said.
Demand from larger processors such as JBS Swift and Cargill, as well as grocery giants Woolworths and Coles, for larger-scale yards and bigger volume has led to a push by investors to build big saleyards.
Infrastructure investor Palisade owns and operates the Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange, which has expanded rapidly.
