Sale of the century?

The ring is king, as the saying goes, but Covid-19 has forced livestock auctions to go online and this could mark a permanent — and welcome for some — change to the way we buy and sell animals. Charlotte Cooper reports

- Charlotte Cooper

The gate opens and a group of 15 store lambs enters the sand-strewn ring. They are moved around the pen, once, twice, as the auctioneer rapidly tells the bids. A price of £82 per sheep is reached and they are driven out of the ring as the next lot enters. It is a common enough occurrence at marts up and down the country each week, but at Craven Cattle Marts (CCM) in Skipton, many of the bids are being made virtually, through the market’s live stream bidding software without buyers needing to attend the auction.

Over on the firm’s website more auctions are taking place — this time using the eBay-style timed auction format from auctionmarts.com. These two formats — live online bidding and the timed sales — are making up the bulk of livestock sales during the pandemic, and for the foreseeable future.

There is also a third online offering on the CCM website. Coronavirus precautions mean that only purchasers and haulers are allowed into market buildings, with sellers — also known as consignors — having to comply with a drop and go system. So, a separate high-quality live video is running on the auctioneer’s website to allow the consignor to watch the proceedings.

VIRTUAL SALES

The new technology that many of the marts are using comes from ASP Newline. The majority of agri-auctions in the UK — 85% — already use ASP Newline’s back-office computer system to run their auctions, but before Covid-19 just a handful offered an online bidding service of any kind.