Hayley's debut a first for the State

The first female livestock auctioneer in the State brought the gavel out at Mt Barker’s Great Southern Regional Saleyards last week.

Hayley Goad, who works at Primaries in Muchea and grew up in Roleystone, sold her first lot of cattle in Mt Barker last Thursday.

The 22-year-old worked as a livestock representative for Primaries where she said she was attracted to the buzz of auctioneering and wanted to ‘compete with the boys’.

“It was good,” she said. “I only sold a couple of head but it was my first shot at selling cattle so I was pretty pleased with how it went.”

Ms Goad said she loved her new career path and said she felt people were becoming more accepting of women in what was a male-dominated industry.

“The barrier is certainly there for women but people are becoming more accepting and the male mentors I have around me have been really supportive,” she said.

Ms Goad said she would like to see more women take up roles in livestock auctioneering and said the industry would benefit from the ideas women could contribute.

“I believe women have the capacity to do as well as, if not better than, the guys in the agricultural industry,” she said.

Mt Barker farmer Charlie Hick said he was pleased to see the first female auctioneer at the saleyards since they opened in 1937.

“She did a brilliant job and we do not talk about equality and making it easier for people out here, it is about getting up there,” he said.