Kingscourt Mart has announced plans to provide farmers under TB restrictions with two opportunities per week to sell TB-negative cattle to controlled finishing units (CFU) via online auction.
The Cavan mart carried out the first online auctioned sale of cattle from TB restricted herds on Thursday, when the hammer fell for eight Hereford and Hereford-cross bulls at €4.05/kg.
Animals sold to CFUs via these online marts must be TB-negative and all cattle movements from restricted herds require approval from both the buyers’ and the sellers’ respective Regional Veterinary Offices (RVO).
The move to allow online sales of TB-negative animals from restricted herds had been announced by then-Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue in late 2023.
McConalogue said the option was intended to “alleviate some of the burden associated with having to keep more stock than required on a TB restricted holding” and could “help introduce an element of competition in the market for these animals”.
Process
The cattle are advertised to CFUs by videos taken by the mart, which targets batches of around 10 cattle – a number it said encourages more bidders to join.
Interested buyers can request to see the cattle in person but the buyer of Thursday’s lot opted not to, as was the case with most of the bidders.
The mart looks for a €100 deposit to get the process around getting the sale organised up and running, with this taken off the commission bill after the sale takes place.
Buyers can log onto the online auction and bid on a per kilo price, while images of the lot are displayed online.
“There is a bit of work on the farmer’s end in batching cattle and having a suitable place for filming, but it does give farmers whose herds are restricted an option when it comes to selling,” Kingscourt Mart manager Lisa Keenan told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“The sale agrees on a the sale is agreed on a price per kg basis. The buyer’s lorry is weighed prior to loading and when loaded to calculate the total weight and final price.”
Keenan said the move has particular potential to help farmers struggling with the impacts of a TB restriction and will become more important during the winter months when shed space is harder to come by and when fodder could be in shorter supply.
Thursday’s mart was hosted on the MartEye platform.
Mart employees who film the videos will take care to follow biosecurity and disinfecting protocol when carrying out this side of the process, she added.