Livestock buyers gather around screens in Lethbridge hotel for largest livestock sale via video in the region
At 136 pages, the sale catalogue for a Sept. 11 cattle sale organized by Southern Alberta Livestock Exchange (SALE) made a hefty smack when dropped on tables at the Lethbridge Lodge hotel.
Some 30,000 head of calves and 1,000 head of yearlings got new owners, who watched video of the animals before making bids in person and by telephone via a sales team on site.
“This catalogue is kind of like the Wish Book that used to come when you were a kid,” said SALE auctioneer Frank Jenkins before the event got underway.
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“You could thumb all through that to see what you wanted for Christmas. You can kind of do the same thing here today.”
The sale took more than seven hours to complete and included cattle from Saskatchewan and British Columbia but the vast majority were offered by southern Alberta cattle producers.
CanadaLive.com, the internet video exchange company that specializes in such sales, produced the video presentations.
Jenkins noted that cattle sales via video are commonplace in the United States and are becoming more common in Canada.
The sales method reduces handling and stress on the cattle, eliminating the need for trucking to an auction market and then to the next destination, be it feedlot or processor.
The Sept. 11 sale was one of the largest of its kind held in the region.
“From a quality point of view, I have no idea where to send you to find this many quality ranch cattle for sale in one day.
“It is unprecedented and it will not be challenged by anyone throughout this fall,” said Jenkins.
Sale results were not available at press time. When ready, they were to be posted at livestock.ab.ca.
