CHANGES to sale rosters announced by the Western Australian Meat Industry Authority (WAMIA) could have a major impact on the whole cattle industry supply chain.
WAMIA has decided to change its Muchea Livestock Centre (MLC) date of sale from Monday to Wednesday, which will impact on transporters, delivery times, handling, sales and processing.
Many in the industry are still processing what this means for their business and their clients.
WAMIA sent a letter to agents and others impacted by the changes last week, informing them that the change will occur on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, with the final Monday sale to be held on June 25.
The letter stated that WAMIA had consulted with stakeholders in relation to ways to improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the MLC.
“The two areas of improvement that have been identified and consulted on are livestock agents assuming responsibility from WAMIA for the presentation of their own cattle for regular auction sales, and a change of the regular cattle sale day from a Monday to a Wednesday,” the letter said.
The letter said that most of the work preparing cattle for auction sale was conducted on a Sunday, which was costly (no matter who did it) and made “attracting experienced staff difficult for all involved”.
“Changing to a Wednesday cattle sale has the least impact on the rest of the livestock industry while delivering significant cost reductions for all participants,” it read.
While the date of cattle sales will change the MLC sheep sale will remain on a Tuesday.
“Unless agreed otherwise, it is proposed that agents undertake the presentation (receival, drafting and penning) of their own cattle from the same date,” the letter said.
“These changes will result in lower costs for WAMIA (as well as for other stakeholders) and to reflect this the sale handling fee for cattle sold through the MLC will be reduced by $5 per head from this date.”
The change in fee would reduce the yarding cost to $2.06 per head for liveweight cattle – although it is expected that with the agents having to take on this role, they will charge for it as well.
WAMIA admitted that the changes would “not suit all users of the MLC and that there will be some impacts to parts of the supply chain”, however it saw the changes benefiting the industry as a whole, particularly through reduced costs.
“WAMIA undertakes to work with all effected users to endeavour to make the transition as smooth as possible,” the letter concluded.
Lancelin cattle breeder Angie Clifton said any change to the sale day at Muchea wouldn’t adversely affect their business.
“There would be a change in delivery time from the Sunday to the Tuesday,” Ms Clifton said.
“It would also make it neater in terms of when there are changes to the sale day due to public holidays on long weekends, when the sheep and cattle sales are held on the same day and deliveries are cluttered.
“Apart from that it wouldn’t adversely impact us.”
Ms Clifton said they usually sold about 15-20 head of cattle at one time at MLC and sometimes have to take them in two loads.
“It would be a good idea for agents to do their own receiving and handling,” she said.
Livestock agents believe there is going to be a lot of anger expressed over the changes – especially with all the other talk going on about MLC possibly being sold as a package deal to build a new facility in the Boyanup region.
Elders State livestock manager Geoff Shipp said he received the letter from WAMIA on Friday and was reviewing it before responding in writing.
He said Elders would need to process what the changes would mean and how they would affect the industry as a whole.
“It is what it is,” Mr Shipp said.
“We will consult with stakeholders and discuss with them what the options are, and how it might affect our clients, but we will do what we believe is right for the whole industry.”
Primaries State livestock manager Paul Mahony said the decision to change the date of sale was made by WAMIA and wasn’t requested or pushed by the agents.
“The key message is that none of us raised the issue of the sale day with WAMIA, it was solely the decision of WAMIA,” Mr Mahony said.
“We’ll see how it works out but it may impact on our clients and buyers.
“People should know it will be business as usual but there will probably be different entities working at the saleyards.
“We’ll have staff there at the sale but they may be working in conjunction with contractors.”
Landmark State livestock manager Leon Giglia said the change of sale day would impact across its sales roster, but he would have to process the impact on the organisation before offering further comment.
Livestock Rural Transporters Association of WA chief executive officer Jan Cooper said individual transporters had received the letter informing them of the changes.
She said there could be logistical issues with transporters if the sales were on at the same time as other sales in the South West, however the association was yet to discuss the issue and comment on it.
Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said she knew about the changes but had nothing further to add to the discussion.
WAMIA chief executive Andrew Williams was contacted for comment but no response was received at the time of Farm Weekly going to press.