Scottish marts confident on holding autumn sales
While the big autumn breeding and store sales might look slightly different to those of “normal” years, marts around the country have given assurances that they will still take place this year.
And this week the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland (IAAS) set out its roadmap as to how it hoped these events will be conducted.
Neil Wilson, executive director of IAAS, said that the physical distancing requirements in place at the time of sales would be a key issue if they were to run along anything like the traditional lines:
“The main limiting factor in marts is the 2m distancing requirement,” said Wilson. “But as a critical infrastructure sector, we are working with authorities to see if we can reduce this to 1m, which would allow a limited number of sellers into marts and increase the number of buyers around the ring.”
He added that alongside and in addition to these measures, the sector was investigating ways to build on technology already deployed by the marts which allow buying and selling to continue remotely.
“To keep everyone safe and ensure the continuation of marts and the livelihoods that depend on them, we have put in place stringent safety measures for farmers attending sales, and are continuing to deploy technology to help those at home,” he added.
Such measures could include more online catalogue sales, where buyers could view pictures and videos about each beast with relevant information such as its date of birth and breeding ahead of the sale, then make an offer online, or bid during the sale via a live bidding platform while live steaming a sale to an adjoining ring could be another option allowing more to attend sales.
“We are also working to ensure that sales of the islands’ livestock can still go ahead,” said Wilson, adding that ongoing discussions with local authorities and the Scottish Government had highlighted a strong will for these sales to continue.
However, significant hurdles include as the risk of transporting Covid-19 to island communities, which often have limited resources to cope with an outbreak: “Secondly, the limited ferry services may have to run at a reduced capacity to ensure onboard distancing. Tourism is obviously important to many of the islands, but it would be disappointing if a critical infrastructure sector such as ours had to compete for ferry use.”
● The Stirling based auctioneering firm Caledoniain Marts has recently completed a £250,000 programme of investment and improvements at their Stirling Auction Centre site.
John Kyle, the firm’s managing director said the strength of the business made it sensible to continue investing.
“Our livestock throughput figures are solid, whilst Caledonian Specialist Auctions plant and equipment and insolvency sales are proving to be a roaring success and we have invested considerably in the infrastructure needed to support and continue this growth,” said Kyle.
The investment included a new 1.75 acre compound completely surrounded by security fencing to hold the increasing number of high-value machinery items for sale along with half an acre of concrete to improve the loading bay facilities.