Watch: ‘if you don’t have to be at the mart, don’t be here'

Farmers at Friday’s sale at Roscommon Mart were asked to use hand sanitiser to help prevent the spread of coronavirus before coming into the sales ring.

Fifty pens of heifers, 70 cows and a couple of pens of bullocks were booked in for Friday’s sale.

Mart manager Maura Quigley told the Irish Farmers Journal that when the mart heard about the coronavirus measures being put in place on Thursday, they asked themselves how they would handle it at the mart.

“Yesterday, when we heard about the coronavirus, with a big sale today we were saying how would we handle it. So we put a message up for non-traders to stay away from the mart for a period of two weeks.

“People rang today and asked [if they could come], we said it would be better if they didn’t come on account of the coronavirus. We’ve sanitisers around the place,” she said.

Increased numbers

More cows were booked into the sale than the mart expected, along with extra heifers.

“There’s more cows than we expected today. There’s a few more heifers that were entered yesterday because people were afraid that marts were going to close. It’s adopt and wait and see attitude at the moment,” she said.

Advice

“We ask all to adhere to the sanitation and if you don’t have to be in the mart, don’t be here.

"If you’re a buyer, a seller or even a haulier that’s fine, but if you’re at home and you normally come in for dinners, we just ask you to refrain from doing so for the next couple of weeks.

“We also ask that children don’t be brought into the mart as well. From now on we won’t be allowing children into the mart,” she said.

'People are panicking a small bit’

Noel Carroll, a farmer from Tulsk in Roscommon, said coronavirus is having an effect across the community, in particular people who are working and going to school.

“It’s also having an effect on the mart. Here today, there’s not as many customers around as normal. Hopefully, the marts will be able to stay open.

“It will take an effort by everybody to do what the HSE says. Trade is fairly ok. I imagine the weather would have an effect as well.

"It’s a big mart here today. People are panicking a small bit, prices maybe not as good as they were a few weeks ago.

“It’s hard to know how things will turn out. There’s a lot of cows here today, people seem to panicking selling cows, they’re afraid the marts will be closed.

“I think there’s no need to panic just yet,” he said.

Nervous buyers

Also commenting on the trade was Padraig Nolan from Roscommon, who said the trade is back slightly.

“I think it’s as a result of buyers being nervous, prices are back.

“Anywhere there’s gatherings of people, if we’re to adhere to the national directive, I’d say that marts more than likely will be closed. It will more than likely change to farm-to-farm buying and selling,” he said.

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