Female-led mart behind new sale system for restricted herds

Louise Walsh

A female-led mart which developed the first Irish online system to auction cattle from TB-restricted herds has hit over 1000 sales since its first sale six months ago.

Lisa Keenan's idea to auction cattle from TB-infected herds to CFUs (Controlled Finishing Units) has opened up the market to competition and better prices for farmers, many of whom may otherwise be struggling financially.

The new livestock sale option is facilitated through the MartEye app, and only CFUs are allowed to bid on the cattle from herds restricted under the Department of Agriculture TB eradication scheme.

"During Covid-19 lockdowns, farmers were in a similar position in that they could not bring cattle to the mart, so we went to the farm, took marketing footage of the cattle, and advertised them for sale on Facebook. They were then weighed in the mart," said Lisa.

"So I thought this was not really any different. ‘This process is an extension of that. Over the years, farmers who had their herd closed due to TB had to wait for two clear tests over four months and were left with little option but to sell to a CFU.

"The CFU that was contacted may or may not be interested in the cattle or offer a bad price.

"So we now go to the herd and take marketing footage and the information of the cattle. Then the various lots for sale are circulated as videos to all our registered CFUs around the country, who can then bid for them on auction.

"This way, more CFUs get the opportunity to bid on the cattle which means more competition and a better price for the farmer.

"It's similar to Covid times except back then, it was just me and my little lunchbox going around the farms in isolation," she laughed.

"This time, there is a team of us."

Kingscourt Mart has had almost a dozen such sales since July, selling over 1000 cattle this way. and a few other marts around the country are now following suit with similar auctions.

"Farmers are delighted to have this kind of service.  I met one particular farmer who didn't know how they were going to manage financially when their herd became restricted so it's great to be able to give them that option now."

"Farmers also run into problems with not having enough space for these cattle, especially during the winter months if sheds are full and then there is often the issue of insufficient feed. Both these things often lead to welfare issues.

Lisa, along with her mother Mary head up the 30-strong workforce at the mart, one-third of whom are female.

These include two drovers, who Lisa believes are the only female drovers at an Irish mart, and Lisa would love to see more women getting involved in this kind of work.

A drover is someone who moves livestock, usually sheep, cattle, and horses.

"We have two female drovers, which is quite unusual, and they are brilliant at their job" said Lisa

"What really annoys me is that we advertise for drovers and all the applicants are male.  We advertise for clerical staff, and they are all female.  I cannot understand why more women are not drovers and more men are not applying for clerical positions.  You need a mix of female and male in all working environments.

"It's not a particularly dangerous job being a drover if you keep an eye on what's going on around you and stay off phones, which can be a distraction

"Droving, like a lot of manual work, has an element of risk if you’re not paying attention. If someone gets careless or distracted, that’s when the danger creeps in

As livestock prices soar, Lisa said beef farmers are now turning to buying sheep and calves.

"At the start of the summer, I noticed that many cattle on a sales day were making over €3,000, when prices for heifers rose to €3000 each, fast forward a few weeks and many of the cattle on a sales day were fetching over €4,000 then I found myself saying 'wow'.

"Seven years ago, cattle were selling for about €2 a kilo.

"Some farmers who sold their cattle early on in the year were holding off buying more in the hope that the prices would drop.

"But Instead when they went back out to replace them, their buying power was well erode,d so those farmers began buying sheep to graze their land because they couldn't afford to buy more cattle.

As Ireland’s only female mart auctioneers, Lisa says the mart is first and foremost about business.

"The mart is a big ecosystem — sellers, buyers, hauliers, onlookers, drovers, and the office staff all playing their part. It’s a hive of activity every sales day. Around the ring the action can get tense, but it never fails to entertain."

Sales are held every Tuesday at 10am on the MartEye App.