PGW launched bidr® its innovative online, real time, auction platform, at Fieldays in June 2019. bidr® was designed to provide the livestock industry with a practical new option for buying and selling livestock online and, ultimately, all things rural.

Since launch, bidr® has accredited seven agencies and over 280 livestock assessors, hosted more than 200 online auctions and facilitated trades of more than 30,000 head of stock.

The flexibility of bidr®’s platform empowers farmers and agents with choice when selling livestock, offering regular weekly auctions and the ability to stand up feature auctions. As an online platform, buyers can place bids and buy from anywhere with internet access. Importantly, there is reduced stress on animals and the environmental footprint of livestock trading is lowered given that stock are transported directly to where they need to go. This results in less unnecessary stock movement and also reduces biosecurity risk by removing the need to congregate animals in saleyard environments.

The agility of the bidr® business came to the fore during the recent COVID-19 lockdown period. In these unprecedented times, internet use and the adoption of online technologies saw massive growth worldwide. This was also true for New Zealand’s agribusinesses. During Alert Levels 4 and 3 saleyards throughout the country were closed and farmers and agents welcomed bidr®’s technology. bidr® experienced rapid growth in activity with more than 3,600 registered users now signed up.

During lockdown, another key concern for the industry was the upcoming two-year old bull sales. With uncertainty about the ability to host these sales on-farm due to social distancing requirements, the PGW Genetics team looked to bidr®. While numerous smaller studs moved their sales to fully online auctions, a solution was needed for large-scale breeders. bidr® and the Genetics Team co-designed a hybrid auction format to provide a fully integrated solution whereby an auctioneer calls the auction on-farm and buyers are able to bid on-farm or online via bidr®. The addition of audio and video livestreaming added a crucial dimension allowing remote participation for users.

Livestreaming of on-farm auctions was on bidr®’s development roadmap but COVID-19 was a catalyst for its early implementation. bidr® prioritised the hybrid option and delivered quickly to meet the need. Overall, bidr® livestreamed 31 hybrid bull sales, each with hundreds of viewers and a total of more than 620 registered online buyers.

Te Mania Angus in North Canterbury are industry leaders and conduct the largest two-year old bull sale of its kind in New Zealand. As innovators they readily took the opportunity to use bidr®’s platform to promote their business using the hybrid livestream auction option in mid-June 2020, with 131 lots sold, averaging $10,056. bidr® activity at the sale was strong with several purchases and bids in excess of $40,000 being placed online.

Te Mania Stock Manager, Will Wilding said, “the bidr® team provided us with excellent service at every step of our sale process. The website gave us the platform to reach a wider audience, the video of the bulls looked great, and on sale day bidr® activity was strong and added value to the Te Mania brand. We look forward to using the bidr® team’s expertise in future.”

PGW Livestock General Manager, Peter Moore said, “bidr® is supported by a highly committed and qualified team of industry specialists who are dedicated to delivering results. The team pride themselves on their professionalism, integrity, and being an approachable partner to provide famers and agents with better business solutions, while delivering the best customer experience. Their diverse backgrounds include dairy, genetics, agribusiness, livestock and provide a holistic view to delivering an online business.”

Saleyards and on-farm sales are synonymous with New Zealand farming culture and have been so for more than 100 years. They will always be a large part of many farmers and agents’ way of buying and selling, allowing farmers the opportunity to view stock in person and the chance to socialise. However, the benefits of bidr® are increasingly being recognised by the industry and the market has welcomed this innovative offering. The team is passionate about the future of rural New Zealand and the increasing role bidr® will play.

For further information please visit www.bidr.co.nz or call 0800 TO BIDR (0800 86 2437).