Carnaross Mart in Co Meath and Manorhamilton Mart in Co Leitrim have both held online sales this week selling all types of cattle and sheep at both venues. It’s been a big hit, with the sales running glitch-free and online bidding working well.

Brendan Hannigan is the brains behind the technology allowing this to happen. A Tullamore native and son of a vet, he saw the opportunity to bring technology to marts six years ago and has been working hard perfecting the software since.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, he said: “I seen the opportunity a few years ago to bring technology to a sector that has very little.

"There’s massive opportunity to use technology in every walk of life to make our lives easier and marts is a good example of this.

"We invested heavily and we’ve got it right just in time. Getting the sound, video and bidding process to all work in sync took time, but we got there.”

The technology uses a real-time camera to video stock when they are in the ring. Once buyers have the app downloaded, they can then view the sale and see what comes up on the board on the mart along with the video.

They must register with the mart before they are able to bid, but it’s all a relatively simple process.

“We have the system installed in three marts and we have another 20 kits arriving in the country on Friday, with 17 of these booked by marts already,” Brendan said.

The company is also looking to offer marts a bolt-on system where online bidding can run alongside their existing mart software provider. This is to speed up the process of getting back up and running.

“To put in a full system takes a little time, so this is an option for marts [that] want to hold online sales straight away,” he said.

Further developments

The company is launching a further enhancement to the app this week where a farmer can choose the mart they wish to sell through and upload a video of the animal, including the tag and details.

This video sale will stay live for 24 hours, during which time prospective purchasers can bid on the animal in a price-per-kg format.

When the auction sale time ends, the highest bidder is notified and the seller OKs the sale. The seller then brings the animal to the mart, the animal is weighed, the mart processes the animal movement and completes the financial transaction.

This means animals don’t need to move to marts until they have to. The animals can be loaded, brought to the mart and weighed within a short time frame, hence reducing the workload for the farmer.

Hanniagn is anxious to keep marts involved as much as possible: “I remember being around marts when I was a child and being amazed at all the activity. These are an institution in Ireland and an important part of rural Ireland. Our system will ensure that they stay here long term,” he said.

Comment - farmer friendly

A lot of traditional cattle buyers will still want to look at cattle properly before they buy them and I’ll hold my hands up and put myself in this category as well.

Buying off a camera is never going to give you the full picture. However, the option of looking and examining all stock before purchase is available.

Buyers can enter marts, write down the cattle they pick and then head home and bid or, like a lot are doing, wait outside and bid.

What happens when marts return to normal trading? The system can cater for this, with a clerk taking bids online and the auctioneer working the ring.

Will it revolutionise marts? It could. Hardliners may think it hard to move over and the age demographic won’t help in some marts, but for younger tech-savy cattle purchasers, it could be the way forward.

For more marts coverage, see this week's Irish Farmers Journal.