Cattle sales at the Millicent Saleyards are in freefall with the rolling average plummeting to just 5449 per annum.
This is well below the 8500-benchmark set by Wattle Range Council a few years ago.
The sales situation was raised by Councillor Dale Price at the November monthly council meeting and he sought data from chief executive Ben Gower.
Cr Price pointed to the other cattle markets in the region at Naracoorte and Mount Gambier which were attracting large numbers and scheduling additional sales.
In reply, Mr Gower said the worst-performing month in 2022 at Millicent was August, when only 123 cattle were sold.
Mr Gower said there were 1292 cattle sold in November of 2021 and this figure dropped to only 551 in the month just completed.
According to acting engineering services director Nick Serle, local stock agents had reported there were low cattle numbers currently for sale and there would be only one market per month in Millicent in December and January.
Cr John Drew asked for an updated staff report on the operations of the Millicent saleyards together with the cost-per-head to ratepayers to operate the facility.
Later in the meeting, council voted to expand the membership of its Millicent Saleyards Advisory Committee.
Cr Price, Cr Moira Neagle and Cr Dennis Muhovics were then appointed to it.
