‘Most of our serious buyers adapted very quickly to bidding and buying online’
Covid-19 has been more challenging than foot-andmouth disease, according to Leinster Co-op Marts general manager Jimmy Walsh.
“Then it was the cattle that could not move, but this time it’s the people who couldn’t move,” he says.
“I spent my lifetime trying to get people to come to marts, now I’m trying to stop them coming.”
The marts have reopened in recent weeks, and to comply with the new rules, boxes have been marked out around the run and two delegated staff members ensure social distancing is adhered to.
“We tried to ensure there were only buyers at the ring,” Jimmy says. “But the social aspect has taken a wallop. You can’t beat the atmosphere of a sales ring, and you need a crowd for that.
“We’re back in business and the biggest challenge is to stay within the regulations and be conscious of setting a good example. We’re so glad to have our marts back to work from, so we’re very anxious not to upset the balance or put anybody at risk, or even for it to be perceived that we put anyone at risk.
“The farming community is looked upon as being a fairly conservative community it’s expected of us that we follow the rules regarding social distancing, even though it’s not nice and not the way we want to be.
“We have yellow circles for social distancing around the ring. When people come in the all stand in them for about five minutes and then they start to wander.”
And while the numbers of people around the rings are reduced, Jimmy says the number of cattle inside the ring is almost identical to this time last year.
“A lot of farmers who did not have the option of a mart in April and early May sold cattle privately,” he says. “There were farmers looking for cattle for grass and because of the transparency it’s not too hard to find out where you got your cattle last year, and the dealers were involved in deals.”
This was especially visible in the calf trade, Jimmy says, where they had been selling 500 calves a week and then we were selling none they were all sold privately during that time.
Prior to reopening the marts were weighing cattle and selling under the tendering system, while he also introduced an online selling platform for the marts.
“The camera is on the ring and the details of the animal are displayed on the board and also online,” he says.
“Most of our most serious cattle buyers adapted very quickly to bidding and buying online; many visit the mart early in the morning to see what cattle are like and then they can go off about their day’s work and log in when the sale starts.
“I think we have the same people buying, but they’re just doing it a different way. It has been a success for us.”
The quality of cattle coming through this year is good, Jimmy says, and trade has been very strong since marts re-opened.
“Perhaps because of Covid, when farmers realised they might not be able to sell for a few weeks, they maybe looked after their cattle better,” he says.
“The trade for cattle this year has been better than the last three years. Buyers are very strong at the moment— they are a brave group of people, given the background of Brexit.
“This week it was farmers buying cattle. The thrive has been the best of the last 10 years. Because of that farmers came back in to buy replacements for those that went off farms early.”
And the last week or so has seen a good supply of cattle, mostly store cattle in the sales rings of the three marts Jimmy runs.
Even with the hiccup of drought for a fortnight, there is plenty of grass for farmers and cattle, which has driven the trade in recent weeks.
“There is grass growing everywhere now. The weather and thrive has given a confidence to farmers this year.”
Leinster Marts operates three sites
Carlow, Kilcullen and seasonal sales in Borris in August and September for local sheep breeders.
Carlow’s main sale takes place on Monday, selling all classes of cattle, including a “fairly sizeable” calf sale.
“We are in a good area for a mix of cattle and sell 50 weeks of the year,” Jimmy says. “Traditionally there has been a fair day in Carlow for over 60 years.”
‘Trade for cattle this year has been better than the last three years. Buyers are very strong... they’re a brave group of people given the background of Brexit’