WQLX expected to 'significantly increase' livestock traffic after receiving organic certification

The WQLX joins the Blackall and Alice Springs sale yards, which were the only two sale yards in Northern Australia for organic cattle producers to spell and accommodate organically certified cattle en route to market.

AAM's Queensland Regional Operations Manager, Gavin Tickle, said growing demand for organic cattle drove the decision to obtain certification.

"In Queensland and the Northern Territory, organic is definitely a growing market, and a lot of producers who transit through our facility are starting to meet that demand, so this is a way to support this growing industry opportunity and better serve the needs of our customer base," Mr Tickle said.

"It's also a great step forward for animal welfare in that the journey for organic livestock, particularly from Northern Australia, can now be broken at Longreach where we have best-practice water and feeding infrastructure in place."

"Consumers are becoming more considered about what they eat and many are seeking organic products," Mr Tickle said.

"We are anticipating the facility will be accommodating a variety of organic cattle - restocking cattle, cattle for processing and cattle for breeding.

The WQLX is popular for spelling cattle on long-haul journeys from northern and western locations, given its strategic location between the farm-gate and key markets.

The certification process was streamlined by WQLX already having key structural elements in place, ensuring there was no chemical residue in or around the feeding facilities.

The organic certification will broaden WQLX's customer base, but Mr Tickle wanted to ensure that the facility will still offer spelling for conventional cattle.

"Our entire facility is organic certified, however regular cattle can still be accommodated," Mr Tickle said.

"We can be very flexible and are able to ramp up and down both sides of the business, and can cater to quite a large volume of organic cattle at the same time as a large number of regular livestock."

More reading: Blackall has become the first saleyard in Queensland to be certified organic