The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Flexibility of on-farm sales is big success
Two leading farmers in Perthshire and the Highlands have reaped the rewards of on-farm livestock auctions, with Texels, Lleyns, Simmentals, Beltex and NZ Suffolks all meeting strong demand from all over the country.
The McGowan family at Incheoch, Alyth, enjoyed a complete clearance of their 98 Texel and Lleyn rams on offer through the online Yourbid system, which allows buyers to bid from smart phones while standing in the fields and pens or with a traditional nod to the auction team at computer bidding stations.
Incheoch’s 44 Texels averaged £1,020 and sold from £350 to £2,100 – the top price going to the Cotswolds for a son of Incheoch Blizzard.
The 47 Lleyns sold from £350 to £2,900, and levelled at £1,021. The farm’s homozygous polled bulls also proved popular, with three Simmental sons of Auroch Deuter averaging £6,266. In all, eight bulls sold to average £4,750.
Graham Burke, of Pentland Livestock, who helped to manage the sale, said: “Yourbid is an excellent and easy to use sales platform that allows customers to bid from anywhere without the need to attend the sale and the flexibility to bid on any sheep, right up to the conclusion of the auction.”
Meanwhile, the team at Fearn Farm in Ross-shire held their 10th on-farm sale, featuring a range of Aberfield, Texel, Beltex, Sufftex and New Zealand Suffolk rams and gimmers.
A Texel ram by Glenway Boris achieved the top price of £2,000, while £195 was achieved for a pen of Aberfield cross gimmers, sired by homebred Aberfield rams, 126 grassfed rams sold to £815 and 331 gimmers averaged £169.
John Scott said: “We were delighted with the way the sale went, both in terms of prices received and the level of clearance, given we had more sheep forward than ever before.
“It was great to see people in person, enjoying a relaxed atmosphere and interacting with the Yourbid format, but it was equally important the sale was accessible to everyone, so individuals could join from their computer or phone at home, without the extra travel.”