Livestock auction data being given away too freely
Auction marts have been giving away the data they accumulate too freely and the situation has to change.
That was the message from Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers of Scotland (IAAS) chief executive Neil Wilson, speaking ahead of Lawrie and Symington’s last sale at Forfar Mart.
Mr Wilson said the trade creates a ‘number of data points’ which have historically been published in ‘quite granular detail’.
He said: “Among other benefits, this has enabled farmers to make marketing decisions based on this data being freely available. But it has also enabled other non-mart livestock trading businesses, platforms and private sellers to operate using this mart-generated data to drive their own pricing – a practice I will be looking to bring to a halt in the near future.”
Market customers would still have access to the data, but far less would be publicly available.
Chris Dodds, executive secretary of the Livestock Auctioneers’ Association, said they were looking at how they could continue to support farmers, traders and abattoirs which use their members’ markets with the data they require but charge others in the industry who do not.
He said: “This is an ongoing development and we will keep industry updated as we develop the mechanism by which this process will work.”
Ewan Pate | Farmers Guardian
Read full article Share on twitter