Agricultural News
LMA's Chelsea Good Says Livestock Auction Barns Are a Critical Link in Food Supply Chain
Mon, 07 Dec 2020 10:07:25 CST
The nation's livestock auction barns are a critical link in our food supply chain said Chelsea Good, vice president of government and industry affairs for the Livestock Marketing Association.
Good was recently interviewed by Radio Oklahoma Agriculture Network Associate Farm Director and Editor KC Sheperd.
We are the national trade association that works with sales barns and auction markets, she said.
When the pandemic hit, Good said the first thing they did as an organization was work with their members and get out information that they are a critical part of the food chain.
Good said there were a number of changes the auction barns had to make.
We reduced the number of people at a livestock auction market to just the minimal number to function, she said. Even the seller was asked to just drop the livestock off.
Good noted that when the auctions shut down that keeps the public from getting beef.
We needed the markets open to keep that beef moving from the ranch to the consumer, she said.
Animals do have an expiration date especially in the pork and poultry industry.
We ended up having a backlog of cattle, she said.
Moving forward Good said we could see more video auctions along with the actual in-person auctions.
It was a growing segment to start with and the pandemic just pushed it down that path quicker, she said.
Good said auctions are an important place to see true price discovery and transparency.
If you want see price discovery in action, go to the auction market, she said.
People in an auction environment create excitement and pushes prices up, Good said.
Good said this year's national auctioneering championship had to be cancelled and rescheduled for June of 2021.
As an interesting side note, Good said the famous auctioneer song by Leroy Van Dyke has a family connection, sort of.
Her great uncle, Paul Good, was an auctioneer and field man for Drovers and hung out with Van Dyke. The story goes that Van Dyke wrote the song about him. Good said it is fun to think about, but it's not true as the song was actually written about legendary auctioneer Ray Sims.
Click on the listen bar below to hear more of KC's interview with Chelsea Good.
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