The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2018 - Issue 57 | Page 13

FARM NEWS 13
• JUN/JUL 2018
NEW ‘PAYPAL’ SYSTEM LAUNCHED
TO INCREASE FARMER-TO-FARMER
TRADING ONLINE
A new farmer-to-farmer online payment system
has been launched to streamline payments and
ensure buyers and sellers’ monies are protected.
FARMPAY, launched by Hectare Agritech,
the company behind online trading plat-
forms SellMyLivestock and Graindex, guar-
antees funds by providing an ‘escrow’-type
account which holds monies securely until
the deal is completed successfully.
The platform is the brainchild of web
developer Jamie McInnes and former Mor-
‘ FarmPay removes an
obstacle to those who
feel more confident
working through
third parties rather
than trading direct
’
risons agriculture manager Andrew Loftus,
who said the new system was the ‘logical’
next step for the trading sites.
They said they saw FarmPay being to
Graindex and SellMyLivestock what PayPal
is to Ebay.
Mr McInnes said online livestock trading
had seen considerable growth in the four
years since SellMyLivestock was launched.
However, some buyers remained cautious
about trading direct with farmers they did
not know.
“We now have 30,000 farms registered on
SellMyLivestock and its sister cereal-trading
site Graindex,” said Mr McInnes.
“Together these farm businesses listed
almost £40 million of livestock and cereals
for sale on the platforms in 2017, up from
£13m in 2016.
£1050.00
75 British Blue X Steers
North Yorkshire
“FarmPay removes an obstacle to
those who feel more confident working
through third parties rather than trading
direct. The buyer’s money is held se-
curely in the holding account until they
can see the stock on-farm and finalise
the purchase.
Hectare has secured £3m of investment
from investors who have previously
backed Uber, Snapchat and Dropbox.
£2000.00
2 Pedigree Limousin Bulls
South Yorkshire
‘ Farm businesses
listed almost £40
million of livestock and
cereals for sale on the
platforms in 2017, up
from £13m in 2016
’
£400.00
25 Holstein Friesian Steers
Lancashire
£1800.00
8 Sim X Heifers with Calves
Northumberland
Over ten thousand head for sale at www.sellmylivestock.co.uk