Bid the Grid launch in eastern States

The pilot project has already seen two successful cattle sales in Queensland.

However, drought conditions, contracted herd numbers and erratic market prices have stalled the launch of regular sales.

NSW or Victoria will be the launching pad of the sheep and lamb sales mid year, with the official state being determined by the number of agents, processors and vendors interested in participating.

The Bid the Grid concept means vendors self-assess their prime cattle and load the assessments into the AuctionsPlus system with the help of Landmark agents and AuctionsPlus co-ordinators and the stock are then auctioned exclusively to processors.

Bid the Grid is the brainchild of Landmark north-eastern Australia manager Brendan Wade, who said it provided an avenue of competition in processor contracts.

"The system allows for each individual processor to bid with their weight and grade requirements but there is still a bit of work to be done, because every processor has varied specification requirements so we need to marry them up with the system," Mr Wade said.

The north's dry season and fluctuating market prices have restricted the launch of consistent sales – a situation which Mr Wade said he hoped would be recovered in the coming months.

"Hopefully we are seeing our market start to settle, and if we get some more consistent numbers we'll get a consistent market, which is what we need," he said.

Mr Wade said the challenge before launching Bid the Grid had been ensuring the selling specifications grid was right.

"The reality is that there is a competition element with the weight and grade on the auction platform," he said.

"The unique grids each processor has for weight ranges and different gradings are fairly similar but they are not the same.

"It is not a dollar-per-head price system – it is weight and grade – so a lot of subjective measurements need to be taken into account."

This is why the initial trials were piloted among a small group of Queensland processors and vendors, which Mr Wade said enabled the system to be followed through from farmgate to processor, allowing any complications to be "ironed out".

Cattle sales have been conducted on AuctionsPlus on Monday afternoons, Monday being – in Mr Wade's words – an "uncluttered" sale day that enabled vendors to assess the market reaction for the week before selling.

He said southern sheep and lamb sales would kick-off in June once processors and vendors had flagged their interest in the online auction and were educated on the complex grid system.

During a Victorian Farmers Federation conference at Benalla, AuctionsPlus chief executive Anna Speer said bidder privacy meant buyers' identities were not disclosed during the sale – something that could have contributed to the initial pilot sales' firm results.

"We had two sales piloted in Queensland and every single processor bid well above their top grid price," Ms Speer said.

"I don't know if it was because they couldn't see each other bidding and pushed each other up – I don't know why – but they did so and hopefully that will continue."

She said processors had been supportive of the Bid the Grid auction because they were able to bid to their grid specifications.

"By not disclosing who the buyers are, a lot of processors and feedlots use our platform because they like to fly under the radar because they are paying a heck of a lot more for the stock than what they are paying on their contracted rates," she said.

"I think that is a good thing, because we are getting the price we want to be getting."