Monta-ewes versus Cow-pulets: Murrindindi Shire’s agriculture industry

MURRINDINDI Shire is known for its natural beauty, in the form of Lake Eildon, the Great Victorian Rail Trail, and close proximity to snow fields such as Mount Buller and Lake Mountain. It is close enough to Melbourne to make it a popular tourist destination, and many car clubs like to explore the roads around the shire.

Yet Murrindindi Shire is also an agricultural area, mainly focused on livestock. The Yea Saleyards are booming with business at the moment, both as a result of the Pakenham Saleyards closing and the big yearly sales taking place in November.

Yet statistically, what is the main agricultural focus of Murrindindi Shire? This masthead researched the commodity numbers in Murrindindi Shire, to find out just where the shire’s agricultural focus lies.

Would it surprise people to learn that sheep actually outnumber cattle from a numbers standpoint? That there are more apples than cherries produced in the shire? That in the 2020 to 2021 financial year, poultry in Murrindindi Shire had a gross value of $25 million, despite there only being 15 reported poultry?

Starting with the big numbers, livestock is the main factor in Murrindindi Shire’s agricultural market without a doubt. With a total gross value of $105 million, livestock occupies 55.20 per cent of the shire’s agricultural market.
Of that, there are some 107,139 sheep and lambs, compared to 79,337 meat cattle and 1357 dairy cattle. That means that sheep and lambs occupy 56.83 per cent of the livestock market for the shire, compared to….

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