Ballina mart becomes first in EU to go live online
Anthony Walsh, 54, has been unable to stay longer than one hour in his local mart since he got surgery on his back.However, Mr Walsh was able to participate in the bidding at Mayo-Sligo mart last year from the comfort of his home where he used his lap-top to bid on and secure a Friesian store bullock. His son, Fiachra, helped him access the live stream from the ringside and place his bids.
Ballina mart manager, Billy Loftus, said that they had over 400 viewers during the first auction, and 100 buyers have registered for the service in the space of a week. This shows that there is an interest in this type of purchasing and may be the way forward.
It is especially of interest to people with injuries or disabilities who may not be physically able to stand at the ring for hours until they find the suitable animal for their herd. I believe that it will be common in the future for people to go in for a luck, find cattle there interested in in the pens and then go home. They’ll keep an eye out for them at their computer and then bid when they enter the ring. This will save time for many farmers because buying cattle takes up half a day which could be used for doing something back at the farm.
Overall I can see this method of purchasing cattle being effective.
PATRICK FANNON
Anthony Walsh, 54, has been unable to stay longer than one hour in his local mart since he got surgery on his back.However, Mr Walsh was able to participate in the bidding at Mayo-Sligo mart last year from the comfort of his home where he used his lap-top to bid on and secure a Friesian store bullock. His son, Fiachra, helped him access the live stream from the ringside and place his bids.
Ballina mart manager, Billy Loftus, said that they had over 400 viewers during the first auction, and 100 buyers have registered for the service in the space of a week. This shows that there is an interest in this type of purchasing and may be the way forward.
It is especially of interest to people with injuries or disabilities who may not be physically able to stand at the ring for hours until they find the suitable animal for their herd. I believe that it will be common in the future for people to go in for a luck, find cattle there interested in in the pens and then go home. They’ll keep an eye out for them at their computer and then bid when they enter the ring. This will save time for many farmers because buying cattle takes up half a day which could be used for doing something back at the farm.
Overall I can see this method of purchasing cattle being effective.
PATRICK FANNON