We are fast approaching peak store selling season, with the Lairg and Portree sales only a few weeks away.

Marts are the focus point for the Scottish livestock industry. With their network of auctioneers and busy market days, it is easy to see why they fill such a unique place. But their role is changing all the time, as they adapt to customer needs. Electronic tags and increased information at sales are just two examples of changes already happening.

The auction system is always stuck between buyers and sellers trying to ensure everyone gets a fair price. They are also under pressure from retailers and processors who are trying to reduce the number of times an animal goes through the ring. Many abattoirs have limits on the number of times an animal can go through a mart. While the maximum number of moves at the moment may allow most businesses to remain unaffected, it is possible that retailers could drive the maximum number of moves down. This would have a disastrous effect on our marts and the farmers rearing livestock in our most challenging and vulnerable areas.

Secondly, you can see the effect of direct marketing of livestock to abattoirs. Since 2011, the average number of cattle in the prime ring has fallen to under 400/week for the first half of 2017. This is a dramatic fall from an already small number, when you think we kill around 8,000 clean cattle a week.

Cull cows have seen a similar fall, tumbling to around 600/week. Just compare that with the same period for 2016, it is still a fall of almost 100 cull cows/week through the ring. This shows that farmers are sending more cull cows straight to the abattoir. If this decline continues, the marketplace transparency found in the ring will be mourned.

The store market has remained far more buoyant of late, with strong prices being passed down the food chain. Finishers are competing in a transparent open market and setting the price for everyone to see. They may complain about the price of stores, but the majority also accept that upland and hill farmers need all the cash to cover costs. As you can see from the graphs below, the numbers have remained steady for continentals, while natives have grown over the last six years.

Sheep

The prime sheep ring is still the dominant location for marketing lambs in Scotland. Issues over inconsistent/unknown grading, small batches of lambs and proximity to a slaughterhouse, all drive sheep into the live ring. This allows supply and demand to occur, providing a more transparent price. Transparency can also mean volatility, as the seasonality of lamb means that the live ring can put prices through the roof, or the floor.

Looking at the table, the store lamb ring is still dominated by Cheviot, Blackface and Texel. Traditional breeds like Blackface and Cheviot have even grown in numbers through the store ring since 2010. Part of this could be down to farmers opting to sell stores, rather than finish. The heart of the marts is still their breeding sales, which remain strongly supported. Farmers want to see potential breeding stock from a number of farms to make a fair judgment, plus guaranteeing payment for buyers and sellers is a key attraction.

Scotland has a reputation for some of the best breeding sales. You can travel far from Scotland and still hear about quality bull sales, and particularly the impressive Kelso tup sales.