MartEye: Keeping close eye on all the ringside action

Technology at the heart of changing mart scene in Ireland

A Simmental heifer at Macroom Mart.

For new startup MartEye it was about being in the right space at the right time and entering into a strong partnership with AgriCam.ie for the installation and maintenance of all the hardware that would be required for its new venture into the agri domain.

And, for marts across the country — including Macroom and Castleisland — it was probably considered to be the ‘blessing in disguise’ when lockdown hit back in March and Covid-19 restrictions forced local mart managers to focus on new ways of doing business.

Now, with another lockdown here, MartEye is probably even more important as its new online bidding process allows sellers and buyers to participate as normal in ringside proceedings but in a much safer and more controlled way.

“MartEye is making marts accessible in challenging times and was founded during the Covid-19 pandemic to help marts operate and sell livestock online,” co-founder Ciaran Fenney told the Irish Examiner.

Our goal was to create a product that would be affordable, easy to use and could be set up quickly.

“We consulted with mart owners early on to establish their needs along with the needs of the sellers and buyers.

“In many ways, we got a lucky break; all of this just took off for us at a very pessimistic time when the Covid-19 pandemic struck and the country was in lockdown.

“We didn’t realise before that, what was possible and the potential that was there for the technology we could build for the agricultural community in Ireland.

“We hoped it would go well when we were starting out but to be honest with you it really has exceeded our expectations.” Meanwhile, MartEye provides for an online video-stream platform tailored for the marts.

Its cross-platform, available on IOS, Android, and web browser and is integrated with mart software providers in Ireland and the UK.

That integration, says Mr Feeney “provides us with data and we use a laptop and high-quality camera on the ringside”.

“All of that is connected and we broadcast on our servers to all the farmers; the mart pays a monthly subscription to MartEye for the service.”

It seems that the service has taken the agri-sector by storm and the associated App is being downloaded across the board.

“We got a report during the week in relation to the devices that people are downloading on and there are android phones and cars there as well as watches,” Mr Feeney continued.

“The marts now have a catalogue system installed and that is integrated onto the MartEye App.

Farmers can now log in, check the lots, make some decisions and then go about their business until that particular lot comes up online.

The initiative also has a role to play in bringing the social aspect of the mart back into the fold — in the digital world — as it allows for spectators too.

“It allows for banter and discussion on social media platforms,” added Mr Feeney who also pointed to how “traffic on the sites is crazy at different times throughout the day, evening and night”.

“It’s giving people something to talk about and we are getting huge engagement on Facebook; people are commenting and tagging each other and all of that is great to see.

“In fact, we are doing a lot of Facebook live streaming now because of the level of engagement that is available to us on that platform.

“That’s just people watching what is going on — they are not buying or selling, just watching the action.

It could be just one mart and there are 1,000 people watching it.

Now that MartEye has become such an integral part of the rural Irish fabric its needs are dependent on the delivery of better broadband nationally.

The National Broadband Plan is something that Mr Feeney and his three co-founders are watching closely.

“The internet is a factor in some marts, but not all,” says Mr Feeney. “There are marts actually where we have to use a sim-card because the internet is so poor; that affects mart goers in the area because it is low-dependent and it creates difficulties for those bidding, etc.

“Any problems we would have are always internet related — the internet could stop or the quality might decrease for a while and that affects the video stream.

We need a really good internet to do what we do well.

"It’s a transient thing and is not something that is easily remedied.” 

 MartEye’s sister company HerdEye is well-established and identifies each unique cow by monitoring them for signs of calving behaviour using artificial intelligence (AI).

By monitoring some tell-tale signs, the system can predict when a cow is going to calve. The system also has the ability to monitor multiple animals simultaneously while tracking calving progress in real-time.