By Dominique Tassell
The Warwick saleyards celebrated its 60th birthday on 13 November, 2022.
The yards were officially opened in 1962 by then Warwick Mayor Alderman E.J Portley and are now operated by the Southern Downs Council, with a cattle sale on every Tuesday from 7:30am and a sheep sale every Wednesday from 1pm.
Selling agents include:
• K.P McMahon & Sons
• McDougall and sons
• George & Fuhrmann Holdings
• Nowlan Stock & Station Agents
• Top X Australia
• Ray White Warwick
There were 78 cattle sales from this time last year to now, with 47 weekly sales and 31 special sales (breeder, show, bullock).
There have been 47 weekly sheep sales and one special sale.
In the last 12 months, there has been 32,482 head of cattle sold and 67,266 head of sheep sold.
The saleyards are set to be upgraded after Leader of the Nationals and Maranoa MP David Littleproud announced on 22 February this year that the saleyards had been successful in their application for funding through the Black Summer Bushfire Grants Program.
The project received $4.5M in funding, with Southern Downs Regional Council expected to contribute $3m to the project as well.
The council moved earlier this year to enter into a contract with EnviroAg for the project.
The project is expected to include cattle pens, amenities, a canteen and an administration office, as well as car and truck parking and internal roadworks.
The rejected options, known as the ‘brownfield’ and ‘greenfield’ options, were costed by consultants in a council business case at $13.9 million and $15.6 million respectively.
The saleyards also received some upgrades last year after the council received funding through Queensland Government’s Building our Regions program.
The council used the funding to “drought-proof the existing truck wash“ at the Saleyards through an $830k recycled water plant.
The council stated at the time that the new water plant “will help preserve the region’s urban water supply” and is expected to reduce the town water consumption for the truck wash by up to 99 per cent.
