In total there are 450 dealers who operate in the market. These dealers buy the cattle on the farm and the farmer only rarely comes to market. The dealers, assisted by a few drovers, stand in their sections and await their buyers. Finished cattle are purchased by wholesalers who kill the cattle in the equivalent of our corporation abattoirs. The buyers and the prices are rarely known.
Some deals are by weight with some 'store' animals sold at a price.
Bulls weighing 400-450kg can make up to 1,000. The system obviously works and the farmers we met had no problems with the system. They are used to being 'bid' close to what the animal is worth and accept the bid. It is obvious that Belgium farmers spend a lot less time in the market than their counterparts in Northern Ireland. A follow-on visit was to Liege abattoir.