THIS year’s Droughtmaster National Sale at Gracemere outside Rockhampton will introduce internet live streaming and remote bidding on the sale for the first time.

In a move designed to encourage more buyers to compete for the bulls catalogued, the Droughtmaster Society has engaged Elite Livestock Auctions to provide an internet bidding facility.

“Given the ever-increasing use of the internet in trading and buying all manner of commodities, the Society has decided to focus on the Internet as a means of improving buyer participation at the sale,” chief executive Neil Donaldson said.

“The streaming of the sale via the internet using the Elite Livestock platform will enable buyers who choose to do so to bid on bulls without leaving home, and provide them with a more efficient use of their time,” he said.

In addition to providing live internet bidding, the Elite platform will also provide live streaming of video and audio from the CQLX Gracemere selling ring. While this is not a new concept (the 2014 Droughtmaster National sales was live-streamed, with mixed success), the Elite platform now claims to operate with virtually no lag between what happens in the sale ring and what is seen and heard on the internet.

“The streamed vision and audio will give internet buyers (and viewers) a live connection to what is happening in the selling ring,” Mr Donaldson said. “They will still be part of the whole sale experience, and it will also provide the opportunity to showcase the breed to potential international customers.”

The Elite system has been used earlier this year in a number of bull auctions, including the two-day Big Country Brahman Sale in Charters Towers in February, where 28 internet buyers bid on 16 lots and ultimately purchased eight bulls. While those numbers were relatively small in relation to the total sale result, they clearly indicated that buyers were willing to utilise the Internet to buy bulls.

To provide remote buyers with as much confidence as possible when bidding, all 533 bulls on offer at this year’s two-day sale will be supported by photos and/or video, accessible via the electronic catalogue.

“We have discussed this new initiative with the three selling agents involved in the Droughtmaster National, and they have all agreed to support this new marketing initiative and have agreed to take photos or videos if requested by their clients,” Mr Donaldson said.

Remote buyers will also be able to access descriptions of the feet and sheath of each bull in the electronic catalogue, and on the printed Supplementary Sheet at the saleyards, using the ACV’s system for describing sheaths and feet, which has been an integral part of the ACV Bull Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BBSE) for many years.

“Providing this information, which has been determined by ACV Accredited Vets will also give internet buyers more confidence when bidding,” he said.

The Droughtmaster National Sale was the first multi-vendor sale in Australia, for all breeds, to introduce ACV Bull Breeding Soundness Evaluations for every lot, and the first major multi-vendor sale to have ultrasound scanning information on every bull offered.

“Live streaming and bidding via the internet is the way of the future, and it is an exciting initiative which we think will enhance the sale’s reputation as one of the leading bull sales in Australia for all breeds,” Mr Donaldson said.

• The Droughtmaster National Sale takes place at CQLX Gracemere on 13-14 September. Click on Genetics Central’s Upcoming sales for details.