Lawrie and Symington has announced that it will cease auction sales at its mart at Forfar as livestock numbers have continued to reduce year on year.
Following a statement made yesterday evening by its board of directors, the company said it had made the ”sad decision” to commence consultation with its staff.
The firm revealed that its cattle numbers were back by 30% this year despite being a valued service to the agricultural community which had been supported by an extremely loyal customer base.
Directors said that although the company had identified other potential revenue streams for Forfar, the mart’s main income source must be from livestock sales commission.
Directors have made the ”sad decision” to commence consultation staff
They said current throughput numbers coupled with ever increasing operating costs were not sustainable.
The statement added: “Scottish agriculture has lost so many marts from traditional market towns over the years and we fear that the current downward trend in national livestock numbers will only exacerbate this problem in the future.
“We recognise the history of the market at Forfar and what its closure would mean to the farming community. The board of directors also have a responsibility to their shareholders and have not taken this decision lightly or hastily.
“Our staff remains our priority and it’s important that we work hard to support our Forfar team at this unsettling time.”
Local Lawrie & Symington director, Andrew Steele from Craignathro Farm confirmed the mart would continue to trade for a month while staff are consulted.
“It has sadly been on the cards for a long time and we’ve fought our hardest, so it’s very upsetting that it has come to this,” he said.
David Peters, who farms at West Bog, Kirriemuir, said Forfar mart had been a huge part of his life for more than 50 years and said he had done all he could to support it both as a buyer and a seller.
‘It’s sadly been on the cards for a long time and we have fought our hardest’ says local director
He added that he had been supporting the local mart 52 weeks of the year with prime cattle which were previously bought through the store ring at Forfar.
“This will have a huge knock on effect, not just on the farmers but the local community and businesses which the mart has supported,” he said.
“It won’t just affect the auctioneer and the office staff but the casual staff and younger ones who work there too.”
“There has been too much negativity and criticism surrounding Forfar and perhaps not enough support. Unfortunately, it’s just a small market getting smaller, allowing the big ones to get bigger.”
One local beef farmer who wished to remain anonymous said it was a huge loss to the Angus area but added that there hadn’t been a great deal of support from Lawrie and Symington’s board to keep the momentum going.
‘This will have a huge knock on effect’ says local farmer
“I think we all know this sad news has been coming for some time and I don’t think anybody will be surprised,” he said.
“This will implement much higher costs onto our haulage for transporting cattle to the market as we are one and a half hours away from both Thainstone and Stirling.”
