'We'd love to keep it open': Town's saleyards to close within weeks

Regional Livestock Exchanges has leased the site off the Corangamite Shire Council who was on Tuesday, June 11, 2024 notified of the decision.

Operations at the site would now wind down with the final sale on Tuesday June 25, 2024.

RLX made the call on the future of the Camperdown site - which it had been operating since 2018 - after concluding the site could not be operated viably.

The decision ends at least 50 years of history in Camperdown, and follows the closure of the Warrnambool saleyards in December 2022 which is now being considered for a housing and commercial development.

An RLX spokesman said that despite working with local agents and producers to increase throughput, cattle continue to be directed to Hamilton, Mortlake and Colac in preference to Camperdown.

"We'd love to keep it open but if it's not economic, it's not economic," he said.

Unfortunately, over the past few years the yard has rarely received the stock volumes required each month to meet the minimum throughput numbers in the lease.

Under the lease, there was a minimum threshold of throughput per year of 20,000 but they were thousands short every year on that.

"A handful of months in the last couple of years we were reaching throughput levels that were required. We could have pulled the trigger quite a while ago.

"It's never nice to close these things down. It's not what we're in the business of. We're in the business of expanding and investing in the industry."

While praising the shire as "excellent partners", the operator said that after considering all options it had advised the council that it did not see "any realistic scenario" under which the site could continue operating on a financially sustainable basis.

Engineering reports consistently show that, while the site was safe to operate, substantial capital investment was required in the near term to keep the site operating safely.

Even more investment was also required - such as new walkways down the track - as well as other investments to bring it up to the standard of a modern facility.

The combination of ongoing low throughput and the significant capital required in the near term means that the Camperdown yard is no longer viable and will not be viable again in future, the company said.

The spokesman said the company was trying to make it work with plans to put a roof on until the costs blew out.

"If the costs had not blown out. We might of put the roof on, we might have got more throughput," the spokesman said.

"If the throughput's not there, it doesn't work."

It was now working with agents on the preferred date for the last sale - likely June 25.

The truck wash and other uses of the site will also cease operating after that day.

The company flagged "huge confidence" in the Australian agricultural industry with plans to continue developing regionally significant and modern livestock facilities in strategic locations, chosen for stock numbers, transport efficiency, and long-term sustainability.

An RLX spokesman said it continued to be open to both further acquisitions, and investing in sites that it operated on behalf of other owners.

RLX chief executive officer Brett Freer said they had persisted for several years, trying to get more stock through the Camperdown saleyards.

"However, the combination of ongoing low throughput and the significant capital injection required means that the yard will not be viable in the foreseeable future," Mr Freer said.

"We are working with all stakeholders to help find the best solution for their livestock sale needs - whether that is livestock being sold at Hamilton, Mortlake or Colac."

Following the closure of Camperdown there will be nine sites in Regional Livestock Exchanges' portfolio including Mortlake - which it purchased last year - and Ballarat and Barnawartha in Victoria.