There is nothing like the experience of bull sale day.
The sleek bulls, buyers taking hurried notes in their sale catalogues, the excited atmosphere each time the gavel falls.
But in 2020, bull sales were a very different experience, thanks to COVID-19. As it turns out, taking the leap into online sales was a step many studs are glad they were forced to make.
According to Hannah Bird from AuctionsPlus, COVID forced some producers who had been considering online selling to take that step.
Ms Bird said before COVID hit, the interest in online cattle selling had been growing.
"But when COVID hit, it just gave that opportunity to jump into it," she said.
She said some studs were faced with the COVID lockdown and border closing only weeks out from their sales, and were forced to host online sales.
"We had a total of 271 stud sales in 2019 compared with a huge 595 in 2020," she said.
"COVID-19 has well and truly had an impact on the number of stud sales being held online, as it allowed producers to still hold their on-property sales while complying with the rules and regulations in place.
"Some studs this year opted for fully online sales, but a majority were still able to hold their sale as normal with the integration of an online platform."
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She said for the spring selling season alone, the number of average auction connections were up 77 per cent, and interstate purchasing grew by 356pc.
She said when it came to Angus-specific stud sales, the increase of online sales was massive.
"In 2019 we had 91 Angus sales, while in 2020 we had 161, which is a 77pc increase."
She said online selling and buying was particularly popular for many younger breeders, but it was also an opportunity for interstate buyers to shop around across the country.
Ms Bird said many studs offering online sales hosted open days to allow buyers to come and view stock, but there was a huge range of information about each animal available.
"There are photos and videos, descriptions of the animals, as well as Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs), but it also linked to Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI)," she said.
It was the same story for Elite Livestock Auctions (ELA) and StockLive.
Libby Hufton, StockLive, said the online selling platforms saw a massive boost in sales in 2020, but it was already popular.
She said when the networks supporting infrastructure in regional Australia were upgraded in 2018, it allowed genuine real-time bidding and livestreaming. And that was when online selling got its wings.
"The core architecture of the technology platform utilised by StockLive and ELA has no limit to the number of simultaneous connections, which allowed greater numbers of buyers to participate directly in sales," Ms Hufton said.
She said both ELA and StockLive had experienced a growth of more than 300pc since 2018.
"StockLive supports more than 650,000 cattle and 1.8 million sheep that are interfaced through our platforms," she said.
"During 2020, StockLive and ELA had 65,000 viewers logged into 700 sales."
She said in 2020 there were 15 sales for the year, which offered 1339 head of cattle.
"On average, 48.6pc of the lots were bid on online and 26.4pc of the total bids were taken online," she said.
"A total of 508 registered buyers logged into these sales and 2526 people watched; 242 lots were sold via ELA to gross $2.2 million and a sale average of $412,000.
"A new record for ELA was achieved in the online purchase of Texas Powerplay for $108,000."
And she said online buying has attracted buyers of all kinds, with different sized herds and from different age groups.
"StockLive registered a 91-year-old first time user of the platform to bid online at the Northern Victoria Livestock Exchange (NVLX) located near Barnawartha," she said.
"This buyer had to adapt to buying online, which was a large contrast to traditionally purchasing at a physical market. The process was simple for the buyer who has since purchased several Angus cattle from the facility."
Online viewing and selling also made its mark in 2020 with a number of online competitions.
The Land's 2020 Beef Battle was very popular, with more than 12,400 views online during the event.
Angus cattle had a huge representation in the battle, with Killain Rainman P1 named as the winner of the Bos taurus bull competition.
In the 2020 ACM Sire Shootout, 66 bulls from a range of breeds were sold for a $24,303 average and topped at $180,000. Angus sire Myanga Justify P99 was named in the top six.
And it turns out buyers were also chuffed with viewing and buying stock online.
David Young, Londavra Angus, St Marys, Tasmania, bought a bull online for the first time in 2020, and he is happy with his decision.
Mr Young bought Circle 8 BBBP124 for $20,000 at the Sydney Royal Show sale, which happened after the show was cancelled.
He said he had bought the second top-priced bull from Jeremy Cooper at Circle 8 stud the year before, so he knew he liked the kind of bulls he offered.
But he made sure he did his homework, looking at photos, videos and EBVs, and speaking to his agent. But he said having dealt with Mr Cooper was the most important part.
"I trust him. He's pretty genuine," he said.
But Mr Young said when buying online, buyers needed to have all of the information.
"I think people need to be careful that cattle are assessed properly," he said. "Things can be hidden in photos, so make sure they have been assessed accurately."
Mr Young said he planned to implement an online sale for his stud, which usually takes place in the first week in March and offers about 40 bulls.
"The results with online sales were pretty fantastic," he said. "It opens you up to more people."