Dingwall Auction Mart sets dates for autumn sales with social distancing in place
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ONE of the north’s most important agricultural hubs in Ross-shire is raring to go and has lined up dates for the autumn sales season in a move that is key to a vital sector across the north.
Dingwall Auction Mart has already lined up a number of dates for sales that will be conducted under physical distancing regulations, restricting the number of people able to enter the sales area.
The Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland (IAAS) this week set out its roadmap for those sales with hopes high the current two-metre social distance guideline will be reduced.
Until that happens, technology will play a large part in sales to limit the number of those attending in person on the day – an obvious difficulty given the buying and selling of livestock requires significant transportation.
"Unfortunately, with social distancing we can only allow purchasers in the sale ring and even then it is limited to about 35 people. The news we are really waiting for is the reduction down to the one-metre rule which would allow us to more than double the number we can host." - Grant Macpherson
But the managing director of Dingwall Auction Marts Grant Macpherson says they are ready to go and aimed for specific sales days when farmers and others would normally have been at agricultural shows on the Black Isle and Grantown.
He said: "As a vital part of the food chain we have been able to keep going throughout the lockdown with livestock sales. We have quite a few irons in the fire at the moment to get things up and running for our busy period of back-end sales.
“Our first lamb sale is the day after what would have been the Black Isle show, on Friday, August 7, and we are also doing one for the day of what would have been the Grantown show. That is for customers who want may sell their spring-born lambs earlier.
"Unfortunately, with social distancing we can only allow purchasers in the sale ring and even then it is limited to about 35 people. The news we are really waiting for is the reduction down to the one-metre rule which would allow us to more than double the number we can host.
"The saleroom – for furniture sales – is not currently being held, with the physical distancing rules in place it is simply not viable, but we are looking to get that up and running as soon as possible when the rules change.”
The IAAS recognises the challenges of staging physically distant sales based on the latest guidance and acknowledges that livestock from farmers on the Isles could face more difficulties reaching points marts.
IAAS executive director Neil Wilson said: “Autumn sales will go ahead and we are working hard with national and local governments to develop a roadmap towards this. We are also working to ensure that sales of the islands’ livestock can still go ahead.
“The main limiting factor in marts is the two metre distancing requirement. But as a critical infrastructure sector, we are working with authorities to see if we can reduce this to one metre, which would allow a limited number of sellers into marts and increase the number of buyers around the ring.
“Alongside and in addition to these measures, we are investigating how we can build on technology already deployed to enable buying and selling to continue remotely.
“To keep everyone safe and ensure the continuation of marts and the livelihoods that depend on them, we have put in place stringent safety measures for farmers attending sales, and are continuing to deploy technology to help those at home.”
