Rod Simmonds remembers back on a Dargaville saleyard visit in the early 1990s, recording a photographic time capsule of the adventure
The mid 1980s were the years of massive change – change of government, change of farm subsidies and huge rationalisation of freezing works, sawmills, and a lot of New Zealand’s heavy industries – scarily similar to now.
Our sheep population was around 70 million then, but now it is down to around 25 million and with that there was a huge shift in how the rural landscape has changed and adapted in the past 30 or so years.
The local saleyards in most New Zealand rural communities were the regular ‘catch up’ place for farmers, their families, mates, stock agents and the local trucking operators.
Freshly baked scones, sponge cakes and shortbread biscuits with long brewed tea in vast amounts were all part of the rural fabric at the time.
It was as much a key social gathering and connection as a day of business. No iPhones or tablets back then. Pocket notebooks, printed docket books, waterproof cards and blackboards were the order of the times.
Back then, the yarding’s were bigger in many places as it was the best way to buy and sell stock – long before meat processors contracts, online bidding and the move to on-farm sales.
Fast forward nearly 40 years, and many rural sale yards have dwindled. Just like the small towns around them. It seems housing is more important than crops or stock in many areas now.
Only the big have survived and even some of those are under pressure to move to make way for more residential development. Rural supersites like the model used in Australia seem to be the best long-term option.
Nestled along the banks of the mighty northern Wairoa River lies Dargaville (pop 5500). The mid-north town is a huge catchment for the surrounding rural area and a great place to meet up with many Northland trucking identities, as I did in January 1990, where I was lucky to capture photos and record the history for the old school truck tragics out there.
The first official yarding was over 100 years ago, when cattle were drafted and moved on hoof from the area’s farms. Barges worked the Kaipara Harbour well before roads and trucks, so the local yards were just a good stone throw away from the river, making it ideal at the time.
Annual agricultural fairs brought buyers from all over the North Island especially for hardy cattle breeding, as the climate and terrain suited certain breeds over others. No doubt the fresh salt air billowing in off the Kaipara Harbour helped farmers raise healthy sought-after animals.
At the time, the yards were still the hub of the community. Now the yardings are smaller, the long-lasting native timber posts and rails have started to fail, and being near the centre of town will probably contribute to its ultimate demise in that location.
Most of the companies then were small independent rural carriers, with most having closed up and losing their unique identity as they were absorbed into others.
Iconic names like United Carriers, Tito Transport, North Western, Roydons Mamaranui, Maungatapere Transport, Hilders Transport, Trailways-Owens, Cooper-Wilson, Neville Bros are the names of just some of the carriers from the past.
United and Semco Group took over many of the independents, and they too have disappeared from the livestock scene since.
At the time of early deregulation, the rural carrier started doing more long-distance livestock movements and with that the larger trucks and higher horsepower was required – 350hp was big gear.
Nationally, the new 44-tonne weight limit was to become the norm, although many in the Northland region couldn’t take loaded trailers into some areas due to the old class weight restrictions on rural road bridges.
Northland roads were barely more than tracks in some areas and the type of carrier servicing the farms had to be innovative to get everything moved in or out, including using barges, local ferries, picking beach tides and Iwi-restricted access times. Probably not a lot has changed, many would say, who are trucking in the area today.
It’s not unusual to spend all day picking up small numbers of animals with a truck, trans-ship into a larger truck and trailer unit multiple times, then finally head south for a big trip and back the next day. Then repeat.
These days in Dargaville, PGG Wrightson or Carrfields Dargaville, will usually have a weekly Thursday sale, although these are occasionally moved to Wednesday depending on numbers.
Most say the fun times ended once new regulation, harsher penalties and stricter hours were enforced, although the question many ask is: 35 years on, are we any better for it?
Images by Rod Simmonds