Grumpy producers, errant sheep and the sheer scale of certain sales – combined with stifling temperatures – can get the tempers flaring. 

“I haven’t seen it come to fisticuffs in these yards, but I’ve seen it come very close,” said Nick Byrne, President of the Bendigo Agents Association, highlighting the passion held by producers and agents alike. 

Speaking at the 20-year anniversary of Bendigo Livestock Exchange on Monday, Mr Byrne, a 13-year stalwart of the yards, said while the camaraderie among sale-goers was strong, the greatest challenge for the yards lay ahead.

In August 2016, Agriculture Minsiter Jaala Pulford announced all saleyards, abattoirs and knackeries in Victoria will be required to scan electronic tags of sheep and goats to the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database. 

For a yard that has at times held upwards of 50,000 animals, a move to an electronic scanning system provides many logistical challenges.

“Everybody has a job to do and it all happens pretty quickly when it (the sale) is going – how much is it (electronic scanning) going to slow it down?,” Mr Byrne said.

The City of Greater Bendigo is preparing a funding application to state government to assess how much infrastructure is required to update the facility.

Since it’s move from East Bendigo in the 1990s, prices for stock have skyrocketed from $30-40/head to, last week, $241/head. 

In 2004, Bendigo had the national record of $192.10/head, according to councillor James Williams. 

Currently the yards, at Huntly, account for about a quarter of Victoria’s sheep and lamb sales, Cr Williams said, with 20 million sheep and lambs moving through the yards since its inception.

“These yards have a proud and long history, its the characters that make this place,” Cr Williams said.

Around $150 million worth of produce is sold at the yards each year.