Elders livestock agent and auctioneer Mark Peters, Mareeba, remembers standing in the pouring rain at the Cairns Show calling his first ever prime beef auction a quarter of a century ago.
“There was no cover over the show ring when I first started,” said Mr Peters who celebrated calling his 25th consecutive show auction last week.
“I remember standing here in the pouring rain with a microphone in my hand and a drizabone raincoat on and thinking how silly was I standing in the pouring rain with an electric microphone in my hand doing a sale.”
While the weather may not have changed in the two and a half decades since – last week’s show was wet and soggy for most – the quality and weight gain of the cattle has improved and so too has the infrastructure.
“The prime beef has certainly developed,” Mr Peters told the North Queensland Register.
“One thing that stands out the most is how much better the cattle have got, how much younger they have got and how much more weight they have at a young age.”
Mr Peters returned to hometown Mareeba in 1991 after a three-year stint in Hughenden and Richmond.
He joined the then Primac agency.
“It was home and we were looking at settling down so I took a transfer and took up a job as a young auctioneer,” Mr Peters said.
“I remember my first show as livestock auctioneer and salesperson and getting to mingle with all of these people like George Harriman, Peter Waddell and Pat Williams who were the stalwarts at that time.
“Twenty-five years has gone past and they are still here.”
Mr Peters, a regular at the weekly Mareeba Sale, said the support from some had been “undying”.
One of the biggest changes with the show and prime beef is the cattle pavilion which includes memorabilia and is open to the public.
“There was nothing like that not even up to five six years ago,” Mr Peters said.
“Now there is a lot of stuff in there that the general public get to see.”
