Strong result after bushfires force weaner sale to Leongatha

YOU couldn’t help being struck by the contrast as a light shower of rain passed over the Leongatha Saleyards on Friday as they hosted the sale of some of the cattle that escaped the devastation of the previous week’s bushfires in central Victoria.

One of the organisers of the 39th annual Yea Blue Ribbon Weaner Sale, being held out of that area for the first time ever, Andrew Hill, said it was a big undertaking moving the sale to Leongatha at short notice but a highly successful one as it turned out.

“It’s an outstanding run of cattle and we’ve had a fantastic response,” said Mr Hill.

“We’ve brought the cattle to the buyers and they’ve sold well.

“The top end have plenty of weight on them and they’ll do really well down here in South Gippsland. The buyers here have responded well but we’ve also had some going back to Bendigo and other areas.”

Mr Hill said there were a number of his vendors with cattle in the sale who had lost practically everything in the bushfires of last week, but none attended the event locally while they responded to the devastation at home.

“You don’t get the full impact of it until you drive out of Yea and just see what the damage has been from such a hot fire, generating an enormous amount of heat from that shocking wind.”

He described scenes of dead and burnt sheep caught up against now-destroyed fences lines, dead cows in dams and black everywhere with hardly a structure still standing.

Large water tanks beside a destroyed home, melted to the ground.

There was emotion in his voice as he described the losses suffered by one of his Yarck clients with a few pens of heifer and steer weaners in the day’s sale at Leongatha.

“It’s a three-generation operation with a good young bloke taking over the running of the place from his father, having a real go and getting somewhere with his breeding. And now this.

“We’ve been able to find somewhere for his cows and calves but we’re still looking for somewhere for his sheep.

“We’d like to hear from anyone who can offer agistment, just give them my number.”

Mr Hill said his client originally had 600 sheep, lost 200 in the fire, and now had 400 that needed agistment but had miraculously saved most of his cattle.

“They just seem to know the right spot to go to survive.”

But little else was saved.

“There’s no fences, no cattle yards, no sheds, and no feed… and it won’t be until September that they’ll have their grass growing again,” said Mr Hill.

“They calve in autumn.

“People have been fantastic though. We’ve been able to get plenty of loads of hay out and there’s more coming in.”

What can people do?

“They can contact me with hay, and we’ll arrange for it to go where it’s most needed, and we could do with some agistment.”

Mr Hill was grateful to the carriers, the South Gippsland stock agents and local buyers who supported their sale at Leongatha on Friday but clearly, there’s a power of recovery work still to be done.

If you can help with hay or agistment call Elders Yea (03) 5797 4100 or Andrew Hill 0419 322 286.