While Covid-19 restrictions continue to inhibit livestock marts from holding their usual auctions and sales at present, a number of marts have agreed protocols with the authorities and continue to facilitate trade at present.
AgriLand spoke to a representative of one of these marts, Dennis Byrne of Edenderry Livestock Mart, Co. Offaly, to see how he is finding trade during current circumstances.
Explaining the procedure, Byrne noted: “What we’re doing is matching buyers and sellers; we’re putting one in touch with the other. Then they agree a price per kilo between them.”
Outlining his role in proceedings, Byrne was clear: “I don’t get caught in the middle; I’m not doing any bargaining or negotiating.
I put people in touch with each other; they agree their price per kilo and then we weigh the animals for them.
As a member mart of the Mart Managers of Ireland, Byrne explained that Edenderry has been operating the current protocol for the past two weeks, adding that there have been no problems to date.
“We’ve plenty of men looking for cattle but it’s the same for everybody – getting cattle and getting the men that want to sell the cattle to accept a price is a problem.
There’s no shortage of men looking for cattle – the demand is still there.
Byrne noted that, in terms of marts and trade, the current scenario “couldn’t have happened at a worse time” with grass coming back and demand strong.
However, he noted: “Men are working away; they’re finding a way to buy cattle. Lads are doing private deals and they’re giving me a buzz and asking if I’ll weigh them, and we do what we can for them.”
In terms of social distancing and hygiene measures, the mart representative noted that everything was being done to comply with protocols and guidelines.
We had to submit the SOP [standard operating procedure] to the district veterinary office – we had to get that approved before we could do anything.
“We have the department here since last Tuesday to supervise and observe,” he added.
For the moment yeah, we’ll see what happens on May 5 and see what happens then and see where we go from here.