When you have a business as diverse as Aurivo, the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic must have seemed all the greater. We spoke to some people at Aurivo to see how the last few months have been and, to see what positives, if any, have come out of this period of uncertainty.

On the dairy side of the house, we spoke to farm profitability specialist Vincent Griffith who describes some of the changes that he has seen in the business over the past number of months.

“Initially, I think the worst thing about the whole thing was the fear of the unknown. Fortunately, on the milk side of things anyway, a lot of the predictions didn’t come true. Milk price has remained fairly stable throughout.

Aurivo plant in Ballaghaderreen.

“For farmers on the ground, the day-to-day routine has probably changed very little. The lockdown came in the thick of calving for a lot of farmers so social distancing was nothing new. Since then, they have just been getting on with the job at hand. Obviously, certain things have changed in terms of how they interact with people calling to the farm such as the milk collection lorry and AI technicians.

“There definitely has been more use of technology since the beginning of the lockdown. We had planned a number of on-farm public events for both the farm profitability programme and the THRIVE dairy calf-to-beef programme, that had to be cancelled.

We have held one webinar which went well and we hope to do another couple in the coming months

“We have held one webinar which went well and we hope to do another couple in the coming months. We have also used videos and social media much more to get our message out to farmers.

“While we haven’t been able to get them together, the seven focus farmers in the farm profitability programme have a WhatsApp group to keep in touch with each other.

When you look at it, it makes a lot more sense to have these type of calls compared to having people drive for a couple of hours to and from a meeting

“The group had been going prior to COVID-19 but it has been getting more use in the last while.

“From our own point of view within the business there have been more conference calls, Zoom calls and Microsoft Teams meetings. When you look at it, it makes a lot more sense to have these type of calls compared to having people drive for a couple of hours to and from a meeting. It made us more efficient as there was no time wasted sitting in the car. I think these will have a role to play in the future – maybe not for every meeting as it is nice to be able to meet people face to face but certainly some of the time.”

Livestock marts

The livestock marts side of the business has possibly gone through the greatest period of change over the last three months than it has seen for a decade beforehand.

The Taoiseach’s announcement that livestock marts were to close from 13 March was a huge blow to an industry about to enter its two busiest months of the year. It was an even bigger blow for farmers who were left with few options for selling their stock. In 2019, 500,000 cattle were traded in livestock marts the length and breadth of the country in April and May.

Once again, Aurivo adapted and has embraced new technology in the form of an online bidding platform in order to better serve its customers. This online bidding tool means buyers can purchase stock from the comfort of their own homes.

Balla mart manager Tom Jordan said: “There has been a phenomenal uptake In MartBids for online bidding – over a month into using it there are still a huge number registering to bid online each week.

We have to look after the farmers producing the stock and make sure they are making money

“It has come along at the right time and has allowed farmers a way of selling and buying stock in a time of a lot of uncertainty. This is something that is here to stay and we can see it becoming more popular in time to come.

“For us, it makes sense because it is putting our customers’ cattle in front of more potential buyers and that is only going to leave more money in the farmers’ pocket at the end of the day.

“We have to look after the farmers producing the stock and make sure they are making money. If they are not in business, then neither are we. On Saturday, for example, 18 cattle between 600kg and 800kg were purchased by a Northern Irish buyer who was at home bidding online.

They don’t need to spend the whole day at the ringside

“It also provides an opportunity for the buyer that might only be interested in one or two lots in the whole sale. Many farmers in the west are part-time now so the time-saving aspect is huge. They don’t need to spend the whole day at the ringside. We can see that already in the heifer ring, when something with breeding potential comes in, the online bidding really lights up.

Buyers

“Obviously, it is great to have buyers around the ring again as well and I think they are happy to be back. Farmers know that the changes in terms of social distancing and reduced numbers allowed into the sale are there for everyone’s benefit and safety.

“Farmers are working with us to make sure we do everything necessary to comply with the guidelines. However, if the distance was reduced from two metres to one metre that would be a huge step forward for us.”

Like all good businesses around the country, Aurivo has put its best foot forward and risen to the challenges faced in the light of COVID-19, embraced change, weathered the storm and is now coming out on the other side well prepared for what is to come in the future as Ireland gets back to business.