On Thursday (October 15) the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine issued new mart guidelines in relation to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the operation of livestock marts based in counties now under Level 4 restrictions.

AgriLand spoke with Raphoe Mart manager, Ann Harkin, as to how the mart is preparing for the differences in trading arrangements.

Commenting on the Covid-19 restrictions in general, Ann stated:

It is not an ideal situation for anyone – but marts must comply with the new SOPs that are being imposed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. We are still lucky, in a way, that we are allowed to have buyers enter the mart and purchase cattle.

Speaking on the new guideline which states buyers are now no longer allowed to pre-view animals in the penning area prior to purchase, Ann stated: “Some buyers are not very happy with the no viewing of animals.

“This is understandable and certainly in the case of online buyers, there really should be a viewing of the animals before purchase. Animals may be a lot different in real life, compared to how they appear online and we have experienced some cases of this.”

Speaking on the effect this is going to have on sellers, Ann said:

“Unfortunately, it is the sellers who are the losers in this scenario, because they now cannot view their animals being sold. They must drop them off and leave.”

Review of guidelines

Ann then went on to state how the restrictions on pre-sale viewings should be re-evaluated:

I think if we were allowed to have a system in place where we can allow a maximum of two/three buyers at a time to view the livestock in the pens prior to selling in a safe, supervised and socially-distant manner, this may reduce any frustrations from the buyers’ point of view.

Speaking on how the mart is preparing for these new levels of restrictions, Ann mentioned:

“We have an online bidding system in place since the beginning of August, and we are registering more buyers this week, so in terms of that, we are prepared to go.

“We are able to have 60 pre-booked buyers positioned around our mart ring in a safe and 2m, socially distant manner – we have never moved away from that.

“They can, however, only stay for one hour and 45 minutes and then they have to book their place again.”

Finally speaking on the compliance from both sellers and buyers in the area, Ann stated: “Farmers have been compliant. We are simply asking them to work with us.

“Nobody really comprehends the pressure that mart mangers and staff are working under in these uncertain times. One of my key priorities is to ensure that my staff are able to work in a safe working environment.”