Page 123 - Hereford Magazine 2021

Limehills Streaker 180030, purchased by Beaumont Station for $20,000, was the top priced bull sold on the Southern Circuit for the
2020 season.

concerns around needing extra feed to carry animals for
longer, no market for live animals, and having farm cashflow
stretched until animals could be processed. At least the
future of the beef market looks to remain steady, as more
high-end meat products possibly become unaffordable for
some households and are no longer in high demand by the
restaurant trade.
Pressure then came on our members to make decisions at
short notice as to how their sales would operate under any
of the alert levels. There was always the hope by the time the
southern sale circuit began on 22 May we would be in level
2, but having to have catalogues and plans well under way
prior to sale day meant we had to be ready for any possibility.
On 13 May we went down to level 2, to the relief of our
breeders, and we were no longer in limbo. Level 2 still gave
us plenty of restrictions to work around, but the possibility
of a hybrid sale was always the preferred option for the Kotare cows and calves.
majority of our breeders and this was now possible.
PGG Wrightson promote and support the Bidr online due to farmers simply carrying on with life as usual or the
auction system, which became the most common option fact we had just returned to level 2 and people were enjoying
taken up and which could be run in conjunction with the having some normality back in their lives. An online auction
live auction. Largely untrialled, the livestreaming system system will always have its place now in our selling rings, but
was fast-tracked and there was always going to be the odd they will never be a substitute for the face-to-face contact
teething problem, but importantly we were able to carry on. made with clients at your sale. For many it is an annual
The popularity and success of the online auction system pilgrimage that is looked forward to. Buyers don’t just go
has seen it become commonplace now, with vendors and along planning to complete a business transaction; it is also
buyers alike seeing the benefits. Buyers are able to view a chance to reunite with old friends and socialise with like-
sales and get a feel for the market and place their own bids minded people.
accordingly. Without distance and travel restrictions, they Who would have thought the isolation we so often relish
can also now participate in multiple sales in one day. The and appreciate on the farm, seen as a negative by some,
ease of viewing the sales also encourages people to watch would be such an asset to our families and our business
sales they wouldn’t normally see, which can then turn them in 2020. It will be the year nobody forgets and one nobody
into future buyers, growing the breeder’s client base. could ever have predicted. I think it has made us all even
Sales this season were surprising buoyant given the more grateful to be where we are and to have fared as well as
climate of uncertainty we are living in. Some felt this was we did compared with many of our urban counterparts.

Year 2021 HEREFORD MAGAZINE 121