INDIGO Valley beef producer Craig Cross believes a Dutch auction system would benefit saleyards.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Mr Cross, Nanthes’ Park British White Cattle Stud, told Wednesday’s Senate inquiry such a system would make buyers details available, and add transparency to the auction system.
He said a Dutch auction system was used successfully at Sydney fish markets.
A Dutch auction would not remove the opportunity for collusion but it would make it more difficult because bidding was done electronically and no-one knew exactly who would bid on which lots.
“An electronic board starts off with a high price and the prices slowly decrease and the first person that places a bid wins the lot,” Mr Cross said.
“It is done electronically so there’s a level of transparency because you know who the buyer is, all buyers would be allocated a number.
“When I sell cattle in the saleyard … the agent gives you a list of what they were sold for but not to whom they were sold.”
