It will be facilitated by full and part-time staff members of the livestock agencies operating at Temuka and a United States-based auction technology company, which promises 24-hour backup.
Live streaming committee chair and farmer Bruce McDougall says Xcira of Tampa, Florida, has been selected as the online service provider.
It has more than 20 years’ experience around the world in the fields of livestock auctions, real estate, automotive vehicles and fine arts.
For Xcira’s first contract in New Zealand, the sale yards co-op is paying an undisclosed setup cost out of its financial reserves and the ongoing operating costs will be quite affordable, McDougall says.
Cattle yarding fees are currently $7 a head and the new operating cost of 60c will be shared equitably between vendors and purchasers.
Sales are conducted by Tessco South Canterbury (Temuka Saleyards Selling Companies), which has about 20 part-time employees on sale days, moving cattle, weighing and NAIT recording, along with up to 40 agents from six participating companies.
These are PGG Wrightson, Peter Walsh & Associates, Rural Livestock, NZ Farmers Livestock, Carrfields and Hazlett Livestock.
Prime cattle sales are on Mondays and store cattle are sold on other days during the month, for a total turnover of 75,000 head annually.
McDougall says the new technology would be extended to sheep sales, with some physical changes in the yards and could be taken off-site for farm clearing sales and machinery sales.
Three fixed cameras will be installed in the ring; one focused on cattle lots, another on the auctioneer and the third on the buyers’ benches.
Real-time bidding from registered farmers who are not on location will be called out.
“While we haven’t been able to visit existing overseas auction sites, and Xcira hasn’t yet been able to come to NZ, we have sourced all the hardware needed and they provide the electronic platform and the software,” he said.
Five attributes were specified in the selection process:
Minimal latency or lag time between live auction and online bids.
Independent branding able to be utilised by all stock firms selling at Temuka.
A common buyer registration system.
The ability to run multiple sales simultaneously, and future proofed to handle growth.
Must be simple and user friendly for online bidders.
He says because of its farmer ownership, Temuka was the first regional livestock sale yards to be able to propose and introduce a system that was independent of any agency.
The co-op has 300 farmer members, mostly in South Canterbury, and was able to run at a profit until 2020, when six weeks in covid-19 lockdown cost about $100,000 in lost fees.
“Autumn is traditionally our busiest time for cattle trading, with weaner cattle sales and cull cows arriving in big numbers,” he said.
“This period of closure severely impacted the businesses of all players in the livestock supply chain and effectively removed the live auction selling system as a barometer of values from the marketplace.
“Prior to covid we had been researching various options for live streaming and online bidding, so the lockdown provided the impetus to push on and develop a workable system.”
Live streaming will begin earlier in July, followed by trial registrations and dummy sales for familiarisation.
“Younger farmers are adopting this type of technology at a rapid pace, and we need to match that demand to remain relevant in the livestock supply chain of the future,” he said.
“We envisage that once buyers become confident with the system that many will choose to bid from the farm office, particularly those who travel some distance each week to attend the sales at Temuka.”
