CASTERTON’S saleyards are being launched into the age of technology, with all future sales to be broadcast online.

Glenelg Shire Council Chief Executive, Greg Burgoyne and Councillor Karen Stephens visited the local livestock trading centre on Friday to announce the move, which was applauded by livestock agents.

“All our accreditation is in line and ag is booming, it’s really important to the regional community of Casterton, so this was the next logical step,” he said.

Elders Casterton agent, Sam Broomby and Nutrien Ag Solutions Casterton agent, Greg Bright said with the cancellation of this year’s June sale due to uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic and competition from nearby yards, online selling would make Casterton stand out from the crowd.

“We are under significant pressure … there’s weekly sales in Mount Gambier, Mortlake’s got weekly sales and things are that bad, that they’re cutting their yard fees so they get lines of cattle instead of little lots of cattle,” Greg said.

Mr Broomby said the value for vendors was immeasurable.

“I’ve got clients who will send stock to Mortlake, not Mount Gambier, because of the online sales down there,” he said.

“You can see the real difference between the two, could be 15 to 20 cents difference because of the online competition.”

With $100,000 from the council budget and an additional $100,000 in Federal Government funding, to be spent in this financial year, Cr Stephens said the next saleyards advisory committee meeting would be developing a plan of action for projects around the yards.

Read the full story in this week’s edition of CN.