A $1.25 million upgrade of the Glen Innes saleyards could make the town the sheep capital of northern NSW, according to the minister for Agriculture.
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It was the first project announced funded through the state government's $170 million drought stimulus package, said Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall.
"It's going to dramatically improve these yards, this will be the biggest upgrade of these yards for fifty years," he said
"And it's already such a big sheep selling centre, but this will I think make it the premier sheep selling centre in northern NSW.
"That's good for the local agents, it's good for buyers but it's great news for farmers because it means there's going to be more competition here and better prices as a result of that for farmers."
Deputy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro traveled to Glen Innes today to make the announcement that the sheep section of the dual cattle and sheep saleyards would be modernised and enlarged. They said works will start more or less immediately.
The project will mean the complete revitalisation of the saleyards with need sheep selling pens, loading ramps, upgraded amenities, installation of lighting and water troughs, sealing of carparking areas and associated signage and landscaping.
The objective is to increase throughput through the yards by 20 per cent, which would mean selling 78,000 sheep annually.
The yards are already worth some $2.2 million to the local economy, supporting 20 jobs in the area.
Jim Ritchie, from Landmark attended the announcement. He was enthusiastic about the opportunity the upgrade presents to drive a recovery on the sheep's back.
"I think it's fantastic, I think the opportunity of fixing up the yards here and making it into a centre to draw more stock, particularly towards Inverell, Emmaville, Tenterfield whatever, I think it's got some great opportunities going forward," he said.
"This will certainly lift the opportunity of getitng more stock through the sheepyards here."
He said producers were seeing prices of $322 for lambs at a sale yesterday, which he called "phenomenal".