LSL has announced that it will reduce the fee it will charge farmers to use its online bidding service at marts.

The company had said last week that a membership fee of €5 per month to ‘view only’ or a €10 per month charge to ‘bid and view’ would commence on 1 September 2024.

LSL has now cut this to €5 per month to bid and view, with access to the LSL herd management app included.

For €10 per month, users can bid and view, as well as access on-demand replays and the herd management app.

Users can pay on a monthly basis or an annual payment of €50 or €100 for the respective memberships.

The fees will come into effect as of 1 September this year.

The LSL app is currently in use in approximately 40 marts around the country.

‘Increasing costs’

The mart bidding service - one of three in the country - said the fee has been introduced to offset “ever-increasing running costs".

“Cloud server costs have increased by over 300% in the past five years. Due to the ever-increasing energy and overhead costs of running and broadcasting on the LSL platform, it is now necessary to introduce this nominal membership.

“This is to ensure the continuing development and services offered on the LSL platform and its sustainability into the future,” a statement from the company said.

Anyone who is currently an LSL on-demand replay member will receive the view, bid and LSL herd management app membership until the end of their current subscription.

Users of LSL who are already premium subscribers will not be affected by these changes.

Martbids, operated by the Irish Farmers Journal, and MartEye are the other two online bidding providers in the market.