Roma Saleyards

One of the unique experiences when visiting Roma in Queensland is to join a tour of the Roma Saleyards - Australia's largest cattle selling centre.  Free tours are offered on sale days and visitors are asked to meet at the Bull Ring at 8:30 am. Volunteers give a short talk on the area, how it was named plus the construction and importance of the saleyards. The two men running our tour had been farmers in the area for many years and were great.

Cattle are transported here from a large area with strict controls on the time that cattle can spend on the trucks - not far away is an ACCC feedlot that can cater for up to 20,000 cattle at a time. The brochure provided is very comprehensive with a list of cattle terms and Fun Facts about breeds of cows and record sales at the Roma Saleyards. Tours of the Saleyards run on Tuesday and Thursday from April to October and Tuesday only from November to March.

About 60 people turned up for the tour and I found it really interesting. The volunteers are happy to answer any questions and explain what is happening around the yards. The display boards show the average weight of cows in a pen and what price is being paid. The horses and workers controlling the cattle within the yards are amazing to watch and it is surprising how quickly the sales go through.

Highly recommended and there were several children joining the tour - what a way for those from the city to learn about cattle sales.