Thomas Lyons 
Herdwatch, a farm management technology company, has launched a new online trading platform for farmers called Buy & Sell by Herdwatch. The commission-free platform aims to facilitate the trading of around 460,000 animals over the next three years. The company said that farm-to-farm movements of animals have been increasing over the past decade, with around 1.5 million movements in 2021, up 50% from one million in 2011. Herdwatch predicts that the largest number of farm-to-farm animal movements on its new platform will come from Co. Cork, followed by Co. Tipperary, Co. Limerick, and Co. Galway.
Buy & Sell by Herdwatch will allow farmers to advertise animals using the verified data already provided to Herdwatch on those animals. Farmers will also be able to add photos and a video to the listing, which can be done for free. The animals are advertised continuously until they are sold. No commission is charged for animals that are successfully sold. The service is available to all of the over 18,000 farmers who are members of Herdwatch, as well as any farmers who download the Herdwatch app subsequently.
Fabian Peynaud, CEO and co-founder of Herdwatch, said that the new platform was generating “very positive feedback” from buyers and sellers. “We know that buying and selling livestock can be a time-consuming activity for farmers. Ultimately this is about saving farmers time and we hope they will find this latest service a further benefit of Herdwatch,” Peynaud said.
The new platform is part of the company’s efforts to help farmers utilise digital technologies to make their activities more efficient. The company has been working on this goal for some time now and has already launched several other digital tools for farmers. Herdwatch’s app, for example, helps farmers manage their herds and comply with regulations, while its other platform, Farm Medicine, helps farmers manage their animal health and medicine records.
Herdwatch has been growing rapidly in recent years and has become one of the leading players in the farm management technology space. The company was founded in 2014 by Peynaud and Fintan Murray, both of whom have extensive experience in the agri-tech sector. Since then, the company has grown to become a major player in the Irish market, with over 18,000 farmers using its services.
The company has also been expanding its operations beyond Ireland. In 2020, it launched its services in the UK, where it hopes to replicate its success in Ireland. The company has also been working on expanding its services to other countries, with plans to launch in France and Germany in the near future.
Overall, Herdwatch’s new platform is a welcome addition to the farm management technology space. By providing farmers with an easy-to-use and commission-free platform for trading animals, the company is helping to make the farming industry more efficient and profitable. With the platform already gaining significant traction among farmers, it’s clear that Herdwatch is onto something big.
