Charollais Society links up with Sell My Livestock

The Charollais Sheep Society has secured a marketing deal with the national, online trading company Sell My Livestock.

The venture, launched this week (9 May), will give the Charollais Society’s 700 members automatic access to an exclusive internet portal, linking them to the Sell My Livestock platform.

Under the new agreement members will be able to post photographs and descriptions of ewes, rams and lambs for sale simultaneously on the websites of both the Charollais Sheep Society and Sell My Livestock.

See also: Why online auction is proving a success

The online adverts will carry the Charollais Sheep Society’s seal of pedigree authenticity, backed by full identity and parentage records as well as fertility guarantees for the rams.

“This is excellent news for our members,” said Carroll Barber, breed secretary of the Charollais Sheep Society. “We are excited to offer breeders a way to showcase their stock throughout the length and breadth of the country. It will enable them to tap into a vast new marketplace.

“As a channel for selling livestock it will be complementary to the traditional auction, which, up to now, has been the only avenue to market for most members,” said Mrs Barber. “This way members keep control and ownership of the selling process from start to finish.”

Good value

The partnership was also warmly welcomed by Andrew Loftus, commercial director of Sell My Livestock.

“Sell My Livestock has grown rapidly since we launched it two years ago. We now have a group of companies operating internet-based agricultural trading platforms; 5,000 UK farmers are registered with us already.”

Mr Loftus predicted the new link will offer good value to Charollais Sheep Society members.

“A web-based sales option has several advantages. It is less stressful for the animals as there are fewer movements in the sale chain, typical transaction costs are less, and there is a vastly expanded marketplace,” said Mr Loftus.

“We have a big social media presence – one lot of yearlings we posted for sale on a Friday recently had been viewed 5,000 times by Monday.”

Mr Loftus also stressed that Sell My Livestock does not see itself in direct competition with livestock markets; rather, the modern platform is complementary to the traditional route to market.

“There is room for both – and we are seeing a growing number of traditional livestock markets and auction houses making use of our site for their own sales initiatives,” said Mr Loftus.

Find out more about the service on the Sell My Livestock website