Save face and reassess cattle markets

Very disappointing and an insult to all cattle farmers in and outside Baw Baw Shire to hear of the forthcoming subjective closure of the Warragul Saleyards by the operators VLE.

As has been reported in The Gazette it has one of, if not the largest dairy sales in the state and a vibrant bobby calf market where not just butchers but farmers large and small can attend to sell and purchase.

There is no excuse as to the conditions are not up to scratch from an OH&S point of view. Three relatively new additions in recent years. A new under cover soft floor area to unload and hold animals, a new bobby calf pens and roof and a new dairy selling ring, along with new overhead walkways for the agents.

How can VLE say these are outdated or unsafe. The business houses of Warragul have and will continue to suffer, as before the closure of the Wednesday and Thursday markets there were three sales a week, four every first and third Friday and sometimes five sales a week when outside agents used the facilities, as has been the case a few times these past weeks with herds of cattle from the Shepparton area.

Hardly a whimper was heard from Baw Baw Shire or councillors or our local members of Parliament when this first reared its ugly head some time ago.

Speculating just how much does council value the farming sector other than bumping up our rates. With council elections drawing near, rate payers quiz your ward nominees as to their support or their lack of support for the continuation of our local icon. There are absolutely no grounds what so ever that these saleyards should be allowed to close before another is built in the shire. I felt for the people operating the cafeteria to no longer have a functioning business.

Why has VLE gone quiet on its purchase and building of a complex at Bunyip North now the consortium has taken steps to establish a complex at Longwarry. The wrath of farmers will be felt by the VLE. If new yards are built a Longwarry I will not send my animals to Pakenham.

So VLE what have you put in place now for Monday’s bobby calf market where farmers can profit from a nice dividend of hundreds of dollars for their dairy and beef calves instead of the far less value offered by the butcher sector . And what about the thousands of dollars you rake in from yard fees every week at dairy sales where herds of dispersal lines are constantly coming through on a weekly basis recording record prices of up to $4000 an animal which was reported two weeks ago.

Not to mention the flick you have already given to the mid week sales. If you wish to save face then now is the time to reassess the negative impact you have put on farmers and the businesses that we faithfully support each and every day we attend any sale in our town, not to mention those farmers who travel from well outside our borders to do business here.

Bruce Pratt, Ellinbank

Remember libraries

Now we know the 16 candidates who are vying for nine councillor positions on Baw Baw Shire Council when ballots arrive in our mail box over the next few weeks, I know one of the key issues I will be looking for is our library service.

As a volunteer with West Gippsland Libraries, made up of three local governments including Baw Baw Shire, I have seen firsthand what an amazing service has been developed especially in the past 10 years.

This is reflected in milestones like the Celebrate Baw Baw Business Awards where West Gippsland Libraries won the Best Large Business award and Lynn Seymour who drives the Northern Mobile Library being named Mobile Library Operator of the Year by the Australasian Mobile Library and Outreach Services Network in 2018.

This is a fantastic position for our libraries to be in and a lot of credit must go to its management who has ensured good use of state funding and access of grant opportunities including examples I saw recently reference being a $1760 grant from the Grace Marion Wilson Trust to support the Books By Us program done with local primary schools, a science week grant of $1500 for the Warragul young Einstein's program and $2000 in a Youth Week grant.

The core of funding for this important community service comes from the council budgets, and we need candidates to commit to maintaining this funding if not consider ways it could be increased to meet the growing community.

Voice has been growing for at least one of our branches to offer Sunday opening hours similar to neighbouring Cardinia and Latrobe City Shires. While renovations in recent years have improved the Warragul site, long term considerations of what might best serve the community are needed now and the library has a strong record of programming and outreach in the early childhood space and funding to expand this into other demographics would offer the library in a meaningful way to more residents.

It hasn't all been smooth sailing in recent years in the library space, with Baw Baw Shire voting to close the Noojee library and leaving those in these communities only able to access online collections or travel to Drouin, or Warragul.

We have seen an increase in Drouin service hours, but well short of the recommendations of the independent report and the Mobile Library faced the risk of being shut down when the other two members defund the southern service, but wisely councillors listened to community advocacy to maintain this service. It is time to see if candidates would consider increasing it such as an increase in out of business hours service time in Trafalgar or adding AM service times to Longwarry.

With much on the shire agenda in 2020 and for the next 10 years, the library service will play an important role from community connection to supporting learning and skill development. communities with strong library services are communities with strong resilience and success. I will be keenly watching what candidates have to say and hope that readers who get to meet a candidate can ask them about their plan for the libraries in Baw Baw.

David Lyons, Trafalgar

Renewable policy

It’s becoming common these days for journalists to describe politicians or policies they don’t agree with as divisive.

There has always been a division in politics between the right (conservatives) and the left (progressives), because the left are predominately guided by emotions and the right are predominately guided by outcomes.

Some examples of policies based on emotion are the Andrews Government response to the coronavirus and the Rudd/Gillard Governments open borders disaster that caused about 1200 people to die at sea.

Another example is the Greens 100 per cent renewable energy policy. According to energy expert Michael Shellenberger, 100 per cent renewable energy would require half on the earth’s available land and lead to enormous environmental pressure and destruction of habitat.

Then there is the Greens support for organic farming. Due to nitrogen-fixing cover crops, poor weed, fungus and pest control, organic farm yields are much lower than 21st century farms.

The Greens also oppose irrigation dams, reducing agricultural yields dramatically. This means that we would need far more land than we currently use for agriculture and less land for flora and fauna.

There are many more examples of how policies based on emotions instead of empirical evidence produce the exact opposite of what was intended, and why the left and right will remain divided.