Andrew Clements on a busy two months.
The past two months have been unprecedented for Sedgemoor Auction Centre's dairy ring.
Taking into account next week's dairy sale, around 4,000 dairy cattle will have been sold through this ring in March and April alone.
Remarkably, despite concerns that this exceptional amount of supply would cause a dramatic drop in trade, this has not been the case.
Demand has continued to outstrip supply, with trade remaining at good levels throughout. We are still seeing a strong trade for all types, with both spring and autumn milk currently sought after and youngstock trade exceptional.
The excellent prices that barren cows have been realising is one of the reasons I believe the trade has remained so buoyant, with a number of producers taking the opportunity to move on troublesome cows and purchase replacements.
Our location and facilities at Sedgemoor have drawn vendors from across the south and east of England and purchasers from Cornwall to Scotland during these difficult times.
Compliance
It would be remiss of me to not mention the pandemic and to thank all of the buyers who have attended the sales for their compliance with the rules.
Marteye, the online bidding app we use, has been a significant help to those not able to travel to the market and for those who wish to keep an eye on the trade while busy farming.
As we move out of this pandemic, it is a timely reminder of the importance of livestock markets to set ‘market' values.
As supermarkets start to include more restrictions in their contracts, dictating how producers market their stock, we all need to be working together to ensure free trade is secured and markets can continue to operate and achieve the correct open market value of all types of stock sold.
Andrew Clements
Andrew Clements is an associate at Sedgemoor Auction Centre. Call 01278 410 251, or email [email protected]
