THE state government has put another nail into the coffin of the Boyanup Saleyards by telling stakeholders it should be funded by private enterprise.
In a letter addressed to the Country Regions Council of WA (CRCWA) last week, Minister for Agriculture and Food Ken Baston pointed to the sale yards as being a commercial business that needed to be funded by private enterprise – despite a number of parties calling for Government intervention.
In Mr Baston’s letter he stated the lease on the current yards expires in 2022, which provided ample opportunity for the parties to consider future options for the yards and seek a solution.
He said it was his understanding that the answer would be based on a good business case so the yards could continue as a commercial proposition in whatever location was preferred.
Mr Baston's letter was in response to a proposal by CRCWA that the funding of new saleyards could come from Royalties for Regions funds.
CRCWA secretary Philippa Hunt said the clear indication from the Minister left the South West in a position where private enterprise would need to fund the new saleyards, at an estimated cost of up to $50 million.
Although the Capel Shire has allocated land, there remained no funding for construction, or an organisation to manage the project.
"There is no private enterprise willing to fund this at the moment, so we don't have any options," she said.
Ms Hunt said this left farmers facing hefty transport costs to Muchea.
She said the Government was also trying to direct growers towards online auctions, but this was not practicable for stud animals or small producers.
"This would be fine if working with, say, 5000 head and they were not stud livestock," Ms Hunt said.
"Buyers of stud bulls and stud rams are less prepared to buy online. Similarly, this is not suitable for small producers who want to feel, look and see the behaviour of the animal."
Capel Shire President Murray Scott said he was once again bitterly disappointed to hear the state government was continuing to hold up the process for the relocation of the yards.
“We’re talking about the farming community in the South West, not just Boyanup and Capel,” he said. “We need to look at the bigger picture, especially in view of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. If farming is to continue and thrive we need the facilities to be within a reasonable distance, which is definitely not Muchea and Mount Barker.”
Mr Scott said numbers at the Boyanup saleyards since 2008/09 had increased by 40 per cent with the location being ideally situated for farmers to transport livestock in a short space of time.
The Boyanup Saleyards are located in the centre of town in an area that is described as ‘prime residential land’.
It has been a regional livestock selling complex since the mid 1950s and for more than a decade, the Shire of Capel has been working towards relocating the yards outside of the town site by lobbying successive state governments to get them to undertake a feasibility study into the relocation and construction of new saleyards.
A number of major developments in the South West beef industry this year have been encouraging for local farmers. These include the increasing Asian interest in the agricultural sector, which has been the catalyst for many of these changes.
The State Government signed three memorandums of understanding between Chinese companies and the WA Livestock Exporters Association and a free trade agreement with Japan was formalised in July which saw the frozen beef tariff reduced from 38.5 per cent to 19.5 per cent over 18 years.
Just last week the Prime Minister announced the finalisation of the China-Australia Free trade agreement which signals the need for the beef industry to look at rapid growth.
Without a strategically located South West cattle saleyard, it could be in vain for the local beef