WVLX director Brendan Abbey told a meeting of about 60 stock agents at Mortlake on Thursday there had been a move by some stakeholders for weekly sales to be held on Wednesdays, the same day as Warnambool saleyards’ weekly sales, but his company was not in favour of it.

“Warrnambool is there. It will not go away overnight,” Mr Abbey said.

He said he understood Warrnambool City Council’s position on its Warrnambool saleyards was that when it started to lose money, it would close the facility.

Fellow WVLX director Rohan Arnold said the company’s position was “to let Warrnambool travel its course.”

He said Warrnambool saleyaards were still making a profit for the council but if the WVLX took away between 20-30 per cent of the cattle currently sold through Warnambool, “that profit will not exist.”

Virtually all livestock agencies operating in the south-west were represented at the meeting apart from the Warrnambool based agencies J & J Kelly and Brian O’Halloran.& Co.

The meeting heard the Hamilton Stock Agents Association had given its full support to weekly sale days on Mondays at the new saleyards,.

The Warnambool Stock Agents Association and Warrnambool City Council have pledged to support the Warrnambool saleyards, with the council planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the near future to roof part of the facility.

Mr Arnold told Thursday’s meeting the WVLX would hold sales on Wednesdays if it went to two cattle sales a week.

“You will get Wednesday sales eventually,” Mr Arnold said..

Mr Abbey told the meeting the company had chosen Mondays for its weekly sales because all the meat processors it had spoken to preferred that day.

“The processor say the hardest day to procure cattle is Tuesday,” he said.

He said the company planned to have monthly store cattle sales on Thursdays. Warrnambool saleyards holds its monthly store sales on Fridays.

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