Naracoorte saleyard manager celebrates 40 year milestone

It is just one of many things he credits with keeping him at the state's largest saleyards for 40 years, along with great staff and the relationships he has built with agents, vendors and buyers.

"I don't live far away so it was easy to get to and fro and I was able to be here when the kids were growing up," he said.

Since his first days on the job he has witnessed some dramatic changes, from using hand winch ramps and loading sheep onto train carriages to the present state-of-art facilities, which include one of the largest truck washes in the country.

Richard has been a driving force behind these infrastructure upgrades at the Naracoorte Lucindale Council-owned yards.

He says one of the biggest game-changers has been the roof above the cattle selling pens unveiled in the past decade.

This, along with the soft flooring, has certainly improved buyer confidence at weaner sales but also increased the comfort for animals and those attending the sale.

"The transport operators love the fact we are catching 10,700 litres for every millimetre of rain that falls on the roof enabling clean water to be used through the truck wash," he said.

Before the yards became his second home, Richard gained plenty of life experience.

His first job after leaving school at 16 years of age was as a jackaroo for the Vogelsang family, Padthaway.

This was followed by a stint working with the Elsdens, also at Padthaway.

From there he enlisted in the army and was drafted into the first armoured regiment.

The next few years would see him driving Centurion tanks and later putting the new American M60A1 tank through its paces for trials from Charters Towers and the jungle at Tully to Mission Beach.

In 1977, Richard left the army and joined a school mate working on a drilling rig at Moomba. He later worked on wells near Alice Springs, NT, and a fly-in fly-out position in the Bass Strait.

"It was pretty exciting being up about the same height as Sydney Harbour Bridge as a derrick man racking back pipes and looking after the mud tanks," he said.

But, in 1980 his wife Iris saw a vacancy at the yards and encouraged him to apply so he could be home to start a family.

Then-saleyard manager Ron Seigert gave Richard the job, and Richard jokes it was the start of a 14-year apprenticeship until he took over as manager in 1994.

"The biggest yarding when I came here was 27,000 (sheep) so eventually we had several yard extension to a new capacity of 40,000," he said.

"We replaced all the ramps and planted a lot of trees in those early years so it improved the aesthetic appeal of the facilities."

All the prime market cattle are weighed post-sale but he remembers big days when pre-sale weighing was introduced he would start at 3am each Tuesday and then clerk the sale.

Being an ex-military man, he says there is not much that phases him about running the 8.5-hectare site.

"We make sure everything is clean, neat and tidy and ready to go for the next week, the important thing is that everything works," he said.

There is always more to be done, with the second stage of replacing the wooden cattle selling pens with steel ones under way.

Seventy-two pens are being constructed, the same number as completed in stage 1 last year.

"You have a 20-year plan and tick them (projects) off as you go but it all revolves around the budget, everything has to be self-funded," he said.

"Probably the worst time was six or seven years ago when they (the council) looked at privatising the yards."

Always on Richard's mind through the years has been drawing livestock from outside the district to keep the selling fees down for the locals who contributed to the yards through their council rates in the early years.

It has certainly occurred in the last financial year, with $191 million in livestock sold.

This includes 477,700 sheep and lambs, the highest throughput for nine years, and 88,565 cattle, the biggest numbers for four years.

"We have very good buying support, good agents and not too many agents which some places have, and the monthly store cattle sale has been a big help," he said.

The NRLE held the first European Union-accredited cattle sale in Australia in the early 2000s, and there have been plenty of memorable sales, but Richard says there is nothing like the yardings of first-cross ewes and ewe lambs each November.

"Last year prices got to $408, it has certainly put us on the map," he said.

Richard's hobbies include fishing, gold prospecting and spending time at his farm at Moyston, Vic, all of which he is looking forward to doing more of in coming years.

But he says he won't retire and shut the last gate without a proper hand-over period.

"Once upon a time I thought if I got to 55 (years) I would go off and do something else but I have just turned 66," he said.

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