Wellington Shire Council has voted to freeze the prices for farmers selling cattle at the Gippsland Regional Livestock Exchange (GRLE).

The prices will remain unchanged for the new financial year.

The consistently dry weather conditions were the main driver in proposing and implementing the fee freeze, to support the local agricultural industry.

Wellington Shire Council Deputy Mayor Ian Bye said Council recognised that primary producers were doing it tough through the dry conditions.

“Farmers have been de-stocking and there has been a bit of uncertainty about how this season is going to pan out,” Cr Bye said.

“Even if the drought was to break tomorrow, it would take a considerable amount of time to recover from the dry period.

“For those reasons, Councillors supported the proposal to freeze the selling fees of cattle for this new financial year rather than increasing them by CPI. It makes selling at GRLE more competitive against other saleyards servicing Gippsland.”

Wellington’s agricultural industry injects millions of dollars into the Wellington economy annually and supports thousands of direct and indirect jobs. GRLE supports up to $8 million in economic activity alone.

Wellington Shire Council took over the management of the GRLE in April 2018 and has been working to support local farmers and business owners.

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