The Animal Industry Board spent 90 minutes discussing the ban on video auctions of livestock in South Dakota. (I didn’t even know we had such a ban, but then I don’t buy much by video auction, livestock or otherwise.)
Our auction barns don’t see much benefit to allowing video auctions:
The South Dakota Livestock Auction Markets Association opposed [Rep. Tom] Brunner’s bill [legalizing video auctions] in 2016. Thor Roseth told the state board Monday that a large video-auction company he represents charges a two-percent commission. Roseth is an owner of Philip Livestock Auction.
“I don’t see it expanding our buyer base in any way,” Roseth said [Bob Mercer, “South Dakota Livestock Producers Lack State Protection at Video Sales,” Watertown Public Opinion, 2017.12.11].
But we’ll probably need to revisit our livestock auction laws… when pigs fly:
Steve Rommereim of Alcester represents pork producers on the board. “We need to look into this,” Rommereim said. “We’ll be able to order cattle from Amazon pretty soon – and they’ll deliver with drones” [Mercer, 2017.12.11].
Let’s hope Amazon routes those livestock drones over fields that need more natural fertilizer.
p.s.: I also learned this morning that Facebook bans animal sales on its platform. Of course, that doesn’t stop outfits like Presho Livestock Auction from listing their hooved offerings on Facebook.