The crushing drought affecting western Queensland has brought a reward of sorts for the Longreach Elders branch and its western Queensland livestock manager, Tim Salter.
On Monday evening, Tim was presented with a trophy as Australia’s top AuctionsPlus sheep assessor for 2015, and the branch was given the trophy as the nation’s number one AuctionsPlus branch for combined cattle and sheep throughput.
If I wanted to go somewhere to get a testimonial for AuctionsPlus, these people are using it to its best advantage.
- Anna Speer
In the last financial year, Tim assessed over 52,000 sheep.
According to AuctionsPlus CEO Anna Speer, in the first quarter of this year, Tim has already assessed another 30,000 head.
“All the top three or four branches were from Queensland – it’s all drought-related,” she said.
“It’s not something to celebrate, other than the fact that people are getting good money.
“The only upside is that clients are getting exposure to a national market. Some of our sales are from as far away as Kangaroo Island.”
Anna was in Longreach to present the awards this week and held a client night, which she said yielded valuable feedback.
“A lot of people are totally destocked but passionate about driving their industry,” she said. “They are really awesome people, doing it tough but thinking ahead.
“If I wanted to go somewhere to get a testimonial for AuctionsPlus, these people are using it to its best advantage.”
This included giving people the ability to manage their risk, and to minimise forced sales from freight expenses.
“People can have a planned evacuation. They can set a reserve price and see, and their stock can stay on the place until they’re sold.”
Strong demand on AuctionsPlus is continuing to drive good prices for store lambs in the west. On Tuesday, 800 Dorper lambs from Augathella, averaging 28.4kg live, sold for $78.50 a head.
The night was an eye-opener for Anna in terms of learning how wild dogs were affecting livelihoods, and in how internet capacity was limiting the ability to access AuctionsPlus programs.
“I’m very open to suggestions as to how we can help in both these areas,” Anna said.
In the meantime, she hoped to see Tim Salter’s name amongst the top buyers for clients once it rains.