Online sales ‘moving boundaries’ for livestock auctions

Original article can be found here

Many South African livestock auction records have been crushed since the start of the year.

Over the past three months alone, Bos Blanco Stud sold a Beefmaster bull for R1 100 000 to Chris van Heerden of Gamtouw Boerdery, Innibos Boerbok Groep sold a Kalahari Red stud ewe for R350 000 to Faheem Kala in Botswana, Christiaan de Jager of O-la-la Chianina sold a Chianina bull to Garren Coetzee of Kouga View Game Farm for R1 175 000, while Hurwitz Boerdery sold an in-calf Boran cow to Arturo Cuturi of Mutanda Plase for R600 000.

Auction prices have been impressively high for all beef breeds over the past few months, driven by higher meat prices and the growth in beef exports, which were stimulating the demand for good-quality genetics. Anton Bothma of Innibos Boerbok Groep said the same trend was evident with goat meat.

“The demand for Kalahari Red goats has been good for some time, but has increased sharply over the past two years, especially in countries like Namibia and Botswana, who are looking for hardy goats. Prices for [all stock is high] because of the high meat prices, but also because of some [in previously drought-stricken areas] rebuilding [their herds].”

The high auction prices were being supported by online sales, and with COVID-19 restrictions, the trend towards online sales had accelerated, Bothma said.

“Over the past year, there has been a substantial decline in the number of people who physically attend auctions, and a steady increase in the number of people who buy online for COVID-19 related reasons, but [also] increasingly because people have become more comfortable buying livestock online and the fact that it presents time and travel savings.”

For the seller, the online auction solution significantly increased their geographic reach and helped reduce auction costs as fewer printed brochures and infrastructure were needed.

Russel Luck, CEO of SwiftVEE, the online platform involved with the aforementioned sales, ascribed the online platform’s success to the use of top technology, good assistance from Google and an energetic team who did not mind going the extra mile for farmers.

Luck was positive about the future of agriculture in South Africa.

“The records are a fantastic demonstration of the way in which artificial intelligence and hard work are moving the boundaries in agriculture. It also proves that good genetics are always in good demand.”