Cultivate Agribusiness will help cattle and other livestock farmers, as well as grain and vegetable producers, in their third forum, to be held on October 21. 

Chairman Andrew Young said it was critical people look beyond saleyards and other face-to-face sales. 

“Gone are the days where growers can get away with selling produce solely from the farm gate or at the local farmers market,” he said. 

“Consumers are savvy and expect quality produce to be available through a variety of marketing channels including online platforms, direct sales, saleyards and live and virtual auctions.

One of the speakers on the panel will be from online auctioneers AuctionsPlus. 

Market analyst Tom Rookyard said current cattle conditions mean buyers and sellers in the market needed to look beyond traditional methods. 

“With the drop in the Australian cattle herd numbers, the importance of being able to locate and purchase the right cattle for your operating is growing,” he said. 

“To look at cattle from Victoria, there is a growing trend of buyers from central and southern NSW looking to Victoria for cattle. A number of lines of Angus backgrounder steers from central Victoria in today’s cattle auction drew bids from both states, with the Central NSW buyers winning out, making 329c/$1080 per head.” 

“If farmers and growers from the Central Highlands region know about the options and understand what’s involved to market their produce successfully, not only will individual sales grow but so too will our industry.

“Sales and marketing techniques and opportunities are changing and we invite broad acre growers to come along, listen and learn from industry experts” says Mr Young.  

The panel session will run from  2pm to 5pm at Ballarat Grammar’s Mt Rowan Farm Campus. 

Bookings through cultivate.org.au.