Officially opened in December last year the Sedgemoor Auction Centre, operated by Junction 24 Ltd and constructed by parent company Mead Realisations, is set to become the largest livestock market enterprise in the South West. Local auctioneers and estate agents Greenslade Taylor Hunt (GTH) operate the livestock centre having worked closely with both Mead Realisations and Junction 24 Ltd in the development of the site at the Regional Rural Business Centre situated off Junction 24 of the M5. The idea to site a new market was conceived by Derek Mead father of Junction 24 managing director Katherine Wetherall.
In addition to the auction mart the centre includes office facilities, farming/professional/ financial services for farmers, conference and meeting rooms as well as accommodation for agricultural related businesses. The centre as a whole is intended to be a one-stop shop for farmers providing a focal point for the farming community.
The new market, which has replaced town centre markets at Taunton and Highbridge, has the most up to date sales rings, pennage and livestock facilities and, opening shortly, a purpose built restaurant serving locally produced food to be known as 'Food on the Level'.The facility can cope with up to 250 dairy cows, 1100 store cattle, 450 stirks, 500 calves, 5000 lambs or 4000 ewes together with facilities for pigs. Throughout construction attention to detail has been paramount to ensure the highest welfare and biosecurity standards to guarantee welfare friendly movement of stock.
Local company Westco Bilanciai supplied weighbridges working closely with Junction 24 and GTH to ensure the weigher designs offered optimum versatility. Two 2000kg capacity multiple sheep weighers were installed along with a 1500kg single beast cattle weigher. The weigher use an innovative design concept the welded stainless steel load cells being mounted on top of the frames to keep them and associated wiring clear of the ground. This avoids potential problems caused from debris build-up and waste products from over excited animals and provides easier access for servicing.
Commenting on the installation of the weighers Katherine Wetherall said, "Westco have proved their worth by meeting exacting standards and thus contributing to the efficiency of our busy livestock market".
There are three sales rings equipped with electronic display boards linked directly to the market office to ensure both vendors and purchasers can obtain speedy statements of their transactions.
The market currently operates Monday Tuesday and Saturday each week and every other Wednesday. In addition to this there are special breed society sales and regular sales of horses and ponies along with quarterly agricultural machinery sales. Along with the Saturday auction mart a Farmers Market is held where local producers can sell their produce. This, says Katherine Wetherall, brings the public into close contact with local farmers providing a platform for improving the knowledge and understanding of modern day agricultural production.
Since the market opened the entries have been high and prices boosted by the weak pound which has meant less foreign meat coming into the market place according to Robert Venner of GTH. Mr Venner went on to explain that the market would put the livestock farmers of the South West firmly on the map.
"We anticipate the market will not only serve farmers from the immediate area but from further a field. The market has regularly achieved sales at values above other markets due to strong buyer support attracted by the convenient location and the knowledge they are assured of a good and large selection of stock to bid for," he added.
Mr Venner pointed out that the market regularly had entries of up to 2500 lambs and hoggetts, was also one of the largest centres for cull ewes and between 200 and 300 finished cattle passed through the ring in front of national and local buyers. In any week he said that on average between 700and 750 store cattle, suckler cows and stirks were sold each week rising to in excess of 1400 head at peak times. This was along with between 250 and 400 calves a week, peaking at 500 and around 50 dairy heifers and cows rising to over 100 with dispersals. After each auction GTH produce a detailed market report which can be accessed via their web site www.ght.net.
As to the future further development on site is planned with a mix of agricultural machinery, equestrian and arable companies moving in. In addition there will be more offices and small trading outlets to further support the local agricultural community.
