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When selling any commodity, there needs to be a price established between the seller and buyer and there are only two ways to do this: either the seller sets the price, or the buyer takes the price offered. In agriculture, we are often price takers. This is where the price is established by the buyer based on the current market conditions, processor supply and demand, or the next producer in the production chain.  It is just the way it is!

Value of Price Discovery

But how does a seller get the highest price? For the cattle industry, although still a price taker, there is a slightly different option: Auction Markets. They utilize price discovery through an auction system to establish the maximum amount a buyer is willing to pay for an animal with specific characteristics on that day. The objective for the seller is to attach enough attributes to their animals so that two or more buyers compete over the animals and achieve the highest possible sales price.

Simply put, that is the added value of the auction system. As a software partner with the auction market industry, we understand its importance very well. For that reason, we create tools to help auction markets, buyers, and seller get the most out of price discovery system of selling.

Attribute Display: The Sliced Bread of Auction Marts

Our approach is simple: at ViewTrak, we needed a better way to showcase the seller’s attributes to buyers, so we created one. Our system allows the auction market to enter any attribute the seller provides to the auction market when the cattle are being booked in. The attributes can then be automatically displayed for the buyers while the animals are being sold. Our system is flexible enough to allow different attributes to be assigned to any type of animal being sold. For example, a seller’s steers could be knife cut, while the heifers are preg-checked open, and the bred cows are April-May calvers bred to black baldy bulls.

Benefits for Sellers, Buyers & Auction Marts

As part of Market Master and Auction Master Pro, Auction Markets with Attribute Display system can share information like the seller’s name, the animal’s breed, feed program, vaccination or health status, or any other attribute they feel the buyers could be interested in. Auction Market and sellers have full control over what features they want to display.

Buyers get to make informed decisions, sellers get to showcase their hard work, and auction markets prove the value of using a price discovery system to market animals. It’s a win-win-win!

Eager to learn more? We’re looking forward to talking to you today via phone at (866) 456-2207 or (800) 475-4603, or via email at info@ViewTrak.com.