Marketing livestock over the last decade has extended from just the local sales barn. Chelsea Good of the Livestock Marketing Association says perhaps the most notable change is how more and more auctions offer an online or video component.

She noted that form of marketing and price discovery is being offered in various degrees from sales barn to sales barn.

"Some of that is just streaming; auction online," Good noted. "So if you’re a cosigner you can watch as your livestock are selling wherever you are. Some of them are getting an opportunity to bid on those cattle online that are in that facility at the regular weekly sale and them some of them have even taken another step in they’ve offered online and video options that are a little separate from their services provided in their weekly sales."

Yet no matter how livestock are presented to potential byers or what new technologies the local livestock site uses to do that, Good said, "I think the value of the local sale barn has not changes, that true price discovery is absolutely still the ultimate benefit."

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