Hailing from a sheep and cattle farm in the borders, 28-year-old auctioneer Rory Livesey has always been attracted to the buzz around a sale ring.

“I’ve always liked working with livestock and wanted to work in a market because it’s a great buzz selling livestock, going out on the farms to see the stock and building up a relationship with the farmers,” he told Farmers Journal Scotland.

“There are many auctioneers a lot younger than me, as I was slightly late starting my auctioneering career, but I’ve been based at Thainstone for three years now.”

His most recent claim to fame was the BBC series The Mart. The documentary followed the auctioneers at Thainstone, including Livesey’s training as an apprentice auctioneer.

“I think the series was actually a really good thing for us, raising the group’s profile and showing the general public what we do here every day. It was great working with everyone at the BBC and it showed just how important a livestock market is to the whole farming industry.”

When the Farmers Journal Scotland visited Aberdeen & Northern Marts at Thainstone on 14 July, Livesey had just finished up after another busy sale.

“The fat trade is really good just now, it’s sitting at just over £3.80 deadweight,” he said. “Fat cattle in the ring, such as good heifers, are making over £2.40/kg. We’ve had a store cattle sale today, which saw a really strong trade, especially big strong cattle that aren’t too far away from finishing.”

Similarly, the weak pound is helping the lamb trade, but prices are starting to fall.

Customer is king

No different to any other business, keeping the customers happy is a key skill in auctioneering.

“Our team of auctioneers provides a valued marketing service to ensure that our members’ and customers’ livestock achieves true value at auction,” Livesey said.

The talk around a sale ring and the number of stock going through it is often the first indication of changes in farming. Farmers Journal Scotland revealed last week that the number of farmers over the age of 65 years has increased to a third, while the proportion of people under 40 that occupy farm holdings has dropped, a trend that hasn’t gone unnoticed at marts.