IT will be the end of an era at the SA Livestock Exchange next week, with the final pig auction to be held at the selling centre.
House of Lindner auctioneer Rene Martucci said while the closure had been discussed for some months, the results from last week's sale had brought the situation to a head.
"Prices at last week's sale were really the final straw for some of our vendors, they were 22 cents a kilogram back (for female baconers) on the previous week and well below the cost of production," he said.
"For me, the most disappointing part of this is that it’s happened so quickly but a couple of vendors just couldn’t take that price drop.
"I would have liked to see more of a transition period but last week really clinched it."
Ironically, at this week's sale numbers came back by about 150 and the price for female baconers rose 26c/kg.
"While the sale has been holding its own in the last six to eight months, rising grain and feed costs have just been creating more headaches for producers," Mr Martucci said. "We can’t control prices and when you get an extra 100 or 200 pigs in, the market just drops off so much."
Landmark pig auctioneer Grant Whitford said the closure was a sign of the times.
"It’s going to be a sad day when the hammer falls on the last pen," he said.
"It will be the end of an era but my numbers have been decreasing, like everyone else at the market. It’s a shame but unfortunately it had to happen."
Elders/T&D Pig Marketers auctioneer Garry Tiss said it made sense to pull the pin now, particularly with Easter looming, when there would have been no sales for two weeks anyway. Despite one less selling option being available to producers, Mr Tiss does not believe the closure will have a huge effect on the wider pig market.
"I don’t think the sale really influences the price, I think the biggest factor in the pricing of pigs is what price buyers can get imported product for," he said.
"Once the requirements for the fresh meat market are met, it all comes down to how cheaply buyers can get stuff from overseas.
"Realistically, there are up to 25,000 pigs a week slaughtered in SA, and about 400 are coming from the saleyards, so it is insignificant."
Pork SA chairperson Mark McLean said lower saleyard numbers in recent years impacted on the ability to keep the yards open. He was hopeful the closure would not affect wider buying competition for pigs.
"It’s important that buyers recognise that producers are wearing very expensive feed grain costs and even though there’s been moderate price rises, many people are still operating below the cost of production," he said.
The Dublin closure will mean the monthly Truro sale is the only pig auction left in SA, but that sale consists mostly of feeder pigs.
