Three livestock marts based in counties Tipperary and Offaly have announced changes to the rules relating to farmers selling cattle and sheep at their marts.
Central Auctions has announced that from January 1, 2023, farmers who sell livestock at any of its three mart venues (Birr, Nenagh and Roscrea) but are not present in the sellers box when their livestock are sold, will have 30 minutes to contact the mart and confirm whether the animals will be sold or not.
Central Auctions has also said that if contact has not been made by the seller within 30 minutes of their livestock being sold, then it will be assumed by the mart that the sale is confirmed.
A subject sale occurs when the farmer selling the cattle has not yet agreed to take the price. If the farmer selling the cattle agrees to take the price, then the livestock are sold but if the seller will not accept the price, then the cattle are not sold.
Speaking to Agriland following the announcement of the rule change, Central Auctions’ mart manager Michael Harty explained why this rule change was made.
He said: “We have some sellers who are present at the mart when their cattle are being sold but they still let them be sold subject.
“We then have to ring the farmers and some are slow to pick up and others say they need time to think about the price.”
This is unfair on the buyer, the Central Auctions mart manager believes.
“We have farmers coming here to buy cattle and when they have all their cattle bought and want to go home they can’t, because the farmer who sold the cattle still hasn’t decided if they will take the price or not,” he said.
“It also takes a lot of additional time for our office staff to make contact with these farmers to see have they decided to take the price on offer for their cattle or not.”
Online selling
Harty said that if farmers are not present in the sellers box when their cattle are being sold, “it is only good manners to contact the mart and let the office staff know if you are taking the price or not”.
“Online selling is a huge addition and there are some sellers making great use of it,” he said.
“They leave their cattle at the mart and as soon as they go through the ring, they contact us and let us know if they are taking the price or not.
“It’s a great facility for sellers because they don’t have to hang around the mart if they don’t want to.”
He explained that sellers that are slow to decide whether or not they will accept the price are “upsetting the trade too, because if a buyer knows they’re not getting the cattle, then they can go out and buy different cattle”.
2023 sales
Sales for the 2022 year have now wrapped up at the Central Auctions mart venues.
The first Central Auctions sale of 2023 will see a sheep sale take place at Roscrea Mart in Co. Tipperary on Wednesday, January 4.
A show and sale of cows and heifers will take place on Friday, January 6, at Roscrea Mart. Birr Mart will resume with a general cattle sale on Monday, January 9, and Nenagh Mart will resume with a general cattle sale on Tuesday, January 10.