Build new saleyards in the South West: Brunswick cattle buff

Brunswick cattle producer Rodney Galati is calling on the State Government to build a new South West livestock selling facility, despite plans to upgrade the Boyanup saleyards and keep it in operation.

Shire of Capel councillors last month backed a proposal to keep the Boyanup saleyards, set to close in three years, operating for 10 years beyond its current lease until 2032.

Under the proposal to give the Boyanup saleyards a 10-year lease extension and keep it in use, the 58-year-old asset will be upgraded and the State Government will shelve plans to appoint a private investor to build new saleyards in the South West.

However, Mr Galati — a Brunswick farmer and cattle buyer who attends the Boyanup saleyards’ weekly sales — deemed the existing Boyanup site “antiquated” and said the region’s farmers needed a new facility.

“An upgrade to (the Boyanup) facility is just not doable — they may as well contribute those funds directly into a new facility,” he said.

“If they even think about staying there, they will lose the majority of their buyers.

“Minister (for Agriculture Alannah) MacTiernan is not fulfilling the obligations by the previous government, which was to provide a new sale facility in the South West.”

In 2017, the former Barnett government supported plans to build a new South West saleyards after the Shire of Capel flagged ending its lease with the WA Livestock Salesman’s Association and closing the Boyanup saleyards in 2022.

The McGowan Government was deciding between two private investors to develop a new saleyard in the region, before last month’s revelations the Boyanup asset could remain in operation.

The State Government, Shire of Capel and WALSA, a joint venture between Landmark and Elders, are now discussing who will fund the Boyanup saleyards’ proposed upgrade.