Galway Bay fm newsroom:
A new online bidding system that will allow farmers to watch and bid on mart sales from home has been launched in Tuam.
MartBids has been developed by The Farmers Journal in response to the Covid-19 pandemic's closure of marts up until this week.
With Marts now opening again as part of phase 2 of exiting lockdown, they must still follow coronavirus restrictions and social distancing measures.
The free app allows farmers to watch the mart's sales and bid in real time on stock featured on the live stream.
Farmers may also advertise on the app in advance of the sale, uploading pictures of stock from their smartphones.
The new system is being rolled out in 7 marts across the country including Tuam, Elphin, Balla and Castlerea.
To register, farmers can log their details on www.Mart bids.com.
Farmer's Journal Beef and Suckler Editor, Adam Woods, says apps like this could become the new normal.
