This Wednesday’s in-lamb ewe fair at the Temuka Saleyards will be the first sheep sale livestreamed for the benefit of online purchasers.
Temuka has livestreamed its Monday prime cattle sales from the saleyard rostrum for about three years, using technology and services from a United States company, Xcira, in Tampa, Florida.
This week is the first time that livestreaming will move out into the sheepyards.
Chair of the Temuka Saleyards Co-operative Bruce McDougall said online bidding has worked well since its introduction, with an average of 12.5% of cattle sold going to online purchasers in the past year, for a turnover of $7.5 million.
Wednesday’s ewe fair will be treated as a trial run to gauge the level of support from online bidders and also to test the practicalities of online selling off the rails at Temuka.
“We began a major maintenance and upgrading project in the sheepyards in the past year, with improvements to drainage and effluent management,” McDougall said.
“The next phase is investigating options to install a weighbridge to pre-weigh sheep and combine this with a permanent livestreaming hybrid auction offering.”
Xcira provides live-streaming services to multiple industries including automotive, heavy machinery, fine arts, bloodstock and livestock.
“Its independence from any NZ livestock companies is important to us as a farmer-owned co-op,” he said.
Temuka Sales Selling Company manager Noel Hewitson is expecting a yarding of around 10,000 in-lamb ewes.
“This past year our sheep farming shareholders and clients have been doing it pretty tough with lower prices and dry weather conditions impacting incomes, so hopefully we can assist in some way to give them a better result on sale day.
“We expect that many of the ewes on offer may leave the district to greener pastures, possibly to online buyers bidding remotely.”
