CATTLE producers could have been excused for enjoying an extra–merry Christmas, following a boon year which saw turnover at the Wangaratta Livestock Exchange exceed $90m.
In what has become an increasingly positive market for local sellers, 2022 turnover and yardage trounced both 2020 and 2021 returns, with some 45,172 head of cattle yarded for a record $90,280,340.58 in total sales.
The figure dwarves last year, when $65,792,277.15 was turned over through the sale of 36,468 head of cattle, while turnover all but tripled the 2020 figure, when 23,948 head were yarded for $30,199,142.
Throughout 2022, sale turnover exceeded $1m on 27 separate occasions, with the January 5 weaner sale raking in $8,566,115 alone at an average of $2351 per head.
The saleyards' price per head peaked at $4012.71 at the February 18 store cattle sale, when 665 head were yarded for a turnover of $2,668,455.
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However, despite a strong first seven months of the year, headage at local sales fell from August through to the end of the year, with each month recording fewer cattle sales than corresponding 2021 figures.
Corcoran Parker cattle agent Justin Keane said local agents were preparing to sell even higher numbers of cattle in 2023, although forecast a drop of around 20 per cent to the average price per head.
"The growth in the cattle market is probably as good as anyone's ever seen, and likely it'll probably settle a little bit, it's probably not going to continue at that level," he said.
"But we've enjoyed a 12 months that's probably as good as any of our local producers have seen in their lifetime.
"It's off the back of an Australia–wide drought probably four years ago that took a huge shell out of livestock and livestock numbers generally – it's been a massive seasons across most of Australia (because) the season's broke, the grass has grown, (there's) little cattle so there's high demand, and low offerings."
The Wangaratta Livestock Exchange's 2023 calendar kicked off on Wednesday 4, with an estimated 8000 cattle expected to be on show across the day and on Friday's sale, a feat Mr Keane believes could not have been achieved without consistent investment into the council–owned yards.
"The input into the livestock exchange has allowed for the growth – there's been investment in the saleyards which has made an already very good facility even better," he said.
"As a result its grown and it's been able to handle these big store sales, big numbers of cattle, and that's where its growth has come from.
"Wangaratta is one of the only centres that's actually investing back into the saleyard and improving its facility and growing – they're building it and the cattle are coming.
"Their investment in the yards is what's creating the growth, it's building a better facility for all our local people, and as a result they're more than happy to use it because it's been successful."
