Earlier today, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that all livestock marts are to close from midnight tonight (March 24), as the Government moves to halt the spread of the Covid-19 virus across the country.

Unfortunately, this announcement delivers a massive blow to the mart trade, and indeed the wider agricultural community, at a time when mart entries are growing in size week-by-week.

In a normal year, thousands of animals would change hand in local marts – which are described as the backbone of rural Ireland – over the coming weeks.

Last week, Haystack.ie announced an initiative to ease some of the pressure and stress which has now landed on Irish farmers’ shoulders – particularly when it comes to buying and selling livestock.

As part of the initiative, farmers can advertise livestock for sale completely free of charge on the Haystack.ie platform.

The move to close marts temporarily in the Republic of Ireland comes after a decision was made to suspend livestock trading at marts north of the border earlier this week.

So, in an effort to help farmers sell and purchase livestock – through this challenging period – Haystack.ie will offer farmers a free platform to sell their animals to potential buyers across the country over the coming weeks.

The wide range of livestock include: calves; pedigree breeding bulls, breeding heifers, weanling heifers and bulls; store heifers, bullocks and cows; and in-calf dairy heifers and cows.

Here’s a flavour of what’s on offer.

Calves

The calving season is progressing well on suckler and dairy farms across the country. There are various batches of calves now available for sale on Haystack.ie – see below.

Angus, Hereford and Belgian Blue – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/calves/"]click here[/button]

Friesian and Hereford – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/friesian-and-hereford-bull-calves/"]click here[/button]

Angus and Hereford – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/hereford-angus-calves/"]click here[/button]

Aubrac – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/aubrac-calves/"]click here[/button]

Breeding bulls

With attention slowly turning from the calving season to the oncoming breeding period on some farms, there are quite a number of bulls available for sale.

The breeds include: Limousin; Charolais; Aberdeen Angus; Simmental; and Hereford. A sample can be viewed via the links below.

Limousin – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/limousin-pedigree-bulls/"]click here[/button]

Charolais – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/pedigree-charolais-bull/"]click here[/button]

Aberdeen Angus – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/pedigree-angus-bulls/"]click here[/button]

Simmental – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/premier-simmental-bulls-for-sale-clonagh-herd/"]click here[/button]

Hereford – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/pedigree-hereford-bulls/"]click here[/button]

Breeding heifers

In addition to the breeding bulls, there are also breeding heifers on the market; a sample of heifers that would suit both suckler and dairy farmers can be viewed below.

Aberdeen Angus – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/5-star-%f0%9f%8c%9f-breeding-heifer/"]click here[/button]

Limousin – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/u-grade-heifer/"]click here[/button]

Friesian and Jersey-cross – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/28-breeding-heifers/"]click here[/button]

Charolais – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/charolais-heifer/"]click here[/button]

Saler – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/saler-heifers-for-sale/"]click here[/button]

Weanling bulls and heifers

With grass growth and grazing conditions improving, there are some quality bulls and heifers for sale in various counties across Ireland.

Charolais and Limousin weanling bulls – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/50-bull-weanlings/"]click here[/button]

Hereford and Angus weanling heifers – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/4-weanling-heifers/"]click here[/button]

Top-quality Charolais weanling bulls – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/weanling-bulls/"]click here[/button]

Limousin, Belgian Blue, Simmental, Hereford, Angus and Aubrac (yearlings) – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/bulls-and-heifers-12-months-old/"]click here[/button]

Store cattle

Moving to store cattle, there are a lot of store heifers, bullocks and cows for sale on the platform; here’s a flavour of these animals for sale.

Charolais, Limousin and Angus cows – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/store-cows-and-heifers/"]click here[/button]

Belgian Blue and Angus bullocks – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/store-cattle/"]click here[/button]

Limousin and Charolais bullocks – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/lmx-chx-bullocks/"]click here[/button]

Charolais bullocks – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/quaily-bullocks/"]click here[/button]

Simmental bullocks – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/simmental-bullocks-for-sale/"]click here[/button]

Hereford and Angus bullocks and heifers – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/heifers-and-bullocks/"]click here[/button]

In-calf heifers and cows

Finally, in-calf heifers and cows are also on offer – view a sample below.

Friesian heifers on the point of calving – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/freisan-heifers-on-point-of-calving/"]click here[/button]

Limousin in-calf heifers – [button link="https://haystack.ie/for-sale/a-selection-of-heffers/"]click here[/button]

How to sell livestock on Haystack.ie

Haystack.ie is an easy-to-navigate, no nonsense website, that puts sellers in touch with potential buyers at the click of the button.

So, what’s the process?

Firstly, new customers must create an account – free of charge – on the Haystack website; existing users can just login using their email and password. Then, follow the simple steps to placing an advert – it’s as easy as that.

Providing as much information as possible – such as genetic background, price, location, good-quality images etc – improves your chances of making a sale.

If taking photos of livestock with a phone, it is advised to take shots in portrait mode (hold phone sideways); providing numerous sharp photos from different angles is also advised.

The Haystack.ie platform will allow farmers with livestock for sale to place adverts for free starting with immediate effect until further notice.

So, to place your free livestock advertisement, just [button link="https://haystack.ie/"]click here[/button]