Now Yass, less than one hour down the road, is seizing the day.

More power to the South Eastern Livestock Exchange backers for their foresight.

Sixteen years ago, the then Goulburn City Council had a similar idea. Kattle Gear Australia was to build a state-of-the-art saleyard for $8 million, as part of a now infamous deal.

As we all know, it went pear-shaped. Buyers and sellers are stuck with a facility barely meeting modern-day requirements.

Agents, buyers and sellers have had a fractious relationship with the owner over the years. If it wasn’t the state of the yards and expenditure of fees, it was high truck wash fees.

Some have already voted with their feet and taken stock elsewhere, including Wagga Wagga and the thriving Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange at Carcoar. 

Now they have another option closer to home. Four Goulburn and district agents will sell stock at Yass. It will take much-needed business away from here. But who can blame them?

The best price for clients will always be a driving force and Yass guarantees robust competition. In this they have reclaimed a little more power when it comes to the Goulburn saleyard.

Kattle Gear managing director Bill Vowles is already feeling the pinch, with the cutback to fortnightly sheep sales.

Yet he is also right to issue a challenge: use it or lose it. Sellers have to look after small producers too and some will inevitably stay loyal to Goulburn. The same agents going to Yass will also sell locally, Mr Vowles says.

We bet they’ve been interesting negotiations.

The facility has been a fixture for nearly 100 years at the current location. It is far from its heyday, but still hosts several large sales annually, injecting valuable dollars into the local economy.

But it’s not enough to keep on keeping on. Agents and graziers rightly expect more.

Mr Vowles says he has a “continuous program of improvement” for the facility. Further, he is not putting off staff and believes he can still offer a competitive service.

We hope so and that it’s enough to keep this historic industry in town.

It could have been so much better. Yass is now running with the ball spectacularly dropped by Goulburn.