WA Beef council hits back on Boyanup Saleyard

Chairman Tony Hiscock expressed disappointment following statements issued to the press by the Capel Shire Council.

“The statements are misleading and lack the detailed facts following several years of discussion on the issue,” he said.

Mr Hiscock said the WA Beef Council, in discussion with the Capel Shire, stated a saleyard complex is necessary infrastructure for the beef industry in the South West of the State.

“However with no commercial interest in pursuing a commercial solution, the Council does not support capital investment by the State Government,” Mr Hiscock said.

For many years the Shire of Capel has been urging the state government to fulfil its promise to purchase land and build a replacement for the Boyanup Saleyard complex with funding received after the sale of the Midland cattle yards in 2010.

Chief Executive Officer Paul Sheedy has stated several times that the Shire expects the state government to recognise that regional saleyards in the South West are clearly a strategic state infrastructure and not that of local government.

A media release by the WA Beef Council last week stated that an investigation in 2005/2006 included Boyanup saleyards as part of a state wide saleyard strategy. 

Mr Hiscock said that at the time the West Australian Livestock Salesman’s Association (WALSA), who own and operate the Boyanup saleyards, wanted to retain exclusive access and there was no commercial interest in pursuing a new site with $2million seed funding on offer from the state government.

“If industry considers that a saleyard is needed in the South West post 2022, it is up to the Capel Shire and the WA Livestock Agents to determine the appropriate location and how the facility is to be funded,” Mr Hiscock said.

Currently cattle agents Elders and Landmark exclusively lease and run the yards under the title of WALSA, with the lease renewed in 2012 until its expiry in 2022.  At that time the Capel Shire plans to develop the land currently occupied by the yards into a housing complex to accommodate the anticipated expansion of the town site.

Commenting on behalf of Westcoast Livestock, cattle agent Phil Petricevich said his company would welcome the construction of new yards, knowing that producers in the South West would benefit enormously from having a multi-agent livestock selling facility in the region.

He said it was difficult for his company to access any saleyards in the South West.

“In the Eastern States you have five or six selling agents alongside Elders and Landmark,” he said.  “If we had access to yards like Boyanup it would boost numbers going through these sales and increase competition for the benefit of producers.”

Mr Petricevich said his company was forced to negotiate livestock sales direct to the processor, exporter or farm to farm for its South West clients, as it could not access the Boyanup saleyards and transport costs to Muchea and Mt Barker were prohibitive.

Mr Petricevich said in the longer term many companies would like to see a multi agent, state-of-the-art regional saleyard centre set up to replace the current complex.

In a statement issued in 2012, the then Minister for Agriculture had stipulated that any such government investment at Boyanup would include consideration of others parties (agents) being able to use the facility. 

However, in September 2012 WALSA advised the DAFWA and the State Government that it would take full responsibility for remediating the saleyards to meet contemporary standards and would continue to operate the saleyards under the terms of the lease with the Shire of Capel.