The crofting community on North Uist were dealt a blow last week when Dingwall and Highland Marts (DHM) announced it had withdrawn its auctioneering services for the Lochmaddy livestock mart.
Along with the United Auctions operated facility at Lochboisdale, the Lochmaddy mart serves the farming and crofting communities of the Outer Hebrides, including the islands of North Uist and South Uist, Benbecula, Eriskay, Barra, plus Berneray and Harris.
Both sites are community-owned with auction sales usually taking place over autumn and winter.
Dingwall sited declining livestock numbers going through the ring as one of its reasons for pulling out, with some crofters opting to sell through the Lochboisdale mart or on the mainland.
The company, which operates other auction centres at Dingwall, Fort William, Portree and Stornoway, posted a statement on its Facebook page last Thursday evening, January 4.
It said: “Many factors Including but not limited to declining livestock numbers, staffing, increasing running costs and stock being consigned to Mainland markets have all contributed to The Board Of Directors making the difficult decision that running sales at Lochmaddy is no longer viable for DHM and therefore are withdrawing our auctioneering services from this centre.”
The firm thanked Neil and Morag Macpherson of Liniclate, loyal stalwarts of the mart for many years without whom “no sales would have been held in North Uist”.
They also expressed gratitude to the locally-based North Uist and Benbecula Livestock Marketing committee for their hard work in organising sales.
Crofter Donald MacRury farms sheep in Uist and regularly takes them by boat to the smaller islands to feed throughout the spring and summer months before selling them at Lochmaddy Auction.
He told us: “It’s not very good news for the island.
“We have two marts on the island which were built specifically so that crofters could get their stock there easily and as close to the piers as possible.
“They were built by us and subsidised by what was then the Highlands and Islands Development board with the majority of crofters on the island putting £100 of their own money into the build also.
“If you had a share in one then that entitled you to use the other.
“Unless someone else is found to step in at Lochmaddy there will be no competition on the island. We need to have two different set-ups here.”
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