Thursday, 09 April 2020 15:38

COVID-19: Trade Me to sell livestock

Written by  Peter Burke
Miles Anderson. Miles Anderson.

Trade Me says livestock sales are now permitted on its online platform, while New Zealand is at COVID-19 alert level 4.

It says concerns have been raised about animal welfare during lockdown, due to the closure of saleyards around the country.

Trade Me’s head of marketplace Lisa Stewart says the company has worked with both Federated Farmers and the Ministry for Primary Industries to understand the issue. 

"With typical public livestock sales closed due to the lockdown, farmers are restricted in how they sell their livestock at this busy time of year,” she says. 

Stewart says Trade Me is now a registered essential seller with MPI, so it is able to provide this service to farmers. 

“We hope this will help them to move and buy the animals they need during the lockdown,” she says.

Federated Farmers meat & wool chair Miles Anderson says the Trade Me platform will be useful for farmers. 

“We’ve got pretty much a perfect storm of factors impacting animal feed – the COVID-19 complications, drought in many parts of the country and under-powered meat processing capability due to lockdown restrictions,” he says.

“Opening up Trade Me to livestock sales and livestock feed sales gives farmers another option to deal with some of the issues they’re facing.” 

More like this

Gaslight much?

OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts started after their disastrous Covid response; now trying to undermine the Covid inquiry to protect his own backside.

Corporate narrative?

OPINION: Forget about the fabled 'rural-urban' divide, the real fault-line in farming might actually be the divide between grass-roots farmers and the industry corporates who claim to be 'speaking on behalf of farmers'.

Featured

$52,500 fine for effluent mismanagement

A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.

Ospri brings Bovine TB testing in-house

The move to bring bovine TB testing in-house at Ospri officially started this month, as a team of 37 skilled and experienced technicians begin work with the disease eradication agency.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Arable advocacy?

OPINION: Spare a thought for the arable farmer, squeezed on one side by soft global prices and on the other…

Gaslight much?

OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter