Organic News
New Breeders Website Launched
Farmers are finally beginning to catch up with the internet and, just to prove it, the latest pioneering initiative in Irish farming is bringing the nation's livestock to the internet. Two young entrepreneurs have launched organic cattle.ie, a website for advertising and sourcing organic and pedigree cattle in Ireland and the UK. Developed and produced by Dónall O'Connor and Micheal O'Donnell, organiccattle.ie is based in the Enterprise Acceleration Centre in Limerick Institute of Technology.
"The original concept was to include only pedigree cattle but during our research we realised there was also an opening in the organic market. The chief complaint of organic farmers was that they find it difficult to locate stock so we added the organic element to the host website pedigreecattle.ie," said Micheal.
The website allows farmers to advertise cattle with photographs of the stock. The information will remain on line for up to one month and can be amended at any time.
Farmers can also create their own herd profiles advertising the traits and successes of their herd thus increasing the chances of a favourable sale. "The major benefits of this website are that cattle can be advertised on the site 24/7 with no deadlines," said Dónall. "Farmers can include images of the stock for sale thus saving time travelling if the stock doesn't meet the farmer's requirements. This site is extremely easy to use and by giving the farmer total control of the advert, we give him total control of the market. The herd profile aspect of it was designed to create access to the breeder's herd which didn't previously exist, thereby exposing the herd to both national and international markets." For further information contact Dónall O'Connor on 086 8916020 / 061 208217.
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