The sheep and lamb pens at the Cootamundra saleyards now stand quiet and deserted following the decision by the local agents association to cease trading at the centre last week.
The action taken by the Cootamundra Associated Agents follows recent years of declining lamb and sheep numbers at the saleyards.
The saleyards is situated on the Olympic Highway on the northern approach into Cootamundra and is operated by Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council.
The sheep and lamb sales were held fortnightly.
Cootamundra Associated Agents stated in a letter to Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council that the proposed sheep and goat individual electronic identification (IED) would also place undue financial pressure on agents and suppliers.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is currently transitioning to mandatory IED for sheep and goats.
Council had been working with the DPI to gain a grant to implement IED at the Cootamundra saleyards.
The mandatory implementation date for IED is January 2025, when all NSW saleyards will be required to have electronic identification in place.
The Council's mayor Charlie Sheahan said Council was saddened that market forces had necessitated the decision by the Cootamundra selling agents to abandon sales at the Cootamundra saleyards.
"This letter from the Cootamundra Associated Agents has come as a surprise, and Council will now have to consider a number of issues regarding the future of the site and the infrastructure in place," Mr Sheahan said.
"Council has invested thousands of dollars in maintaining and improving the site over many years.
"Council is faced with escalating costs in maintenance, compliance, and managing the expectations of agents, buyers, and sellers.
He said the Council would consider all options regarding the site in the future.
"It is the belief of the Cootamundra Associated Agents, that due to the very low sheep numbers coming into the yards, and the upcoming introduction of sheep tagging (IED), it is no longer financially viable to utilise the yards for the sale of stock," he said.
Mr Sheahan added that cattle had not been sold at the yards for some time.
He said Cootamundra saleyards were not the first to fall victim to rising costs, low stock numbers and compliance.
"Some very large enterprises in Victoria and South Australia have recently closed, while saleyards in surrounding towns closed many years ago," he said.
