Sheep new at viehworld

The new app viehworld has set itself the goal of revolutionising the livestock trade in Austria and has been on the market since September of this year. Within two months, 6,000 customers - conventional farmers, organic farmers and livestock traders - have already been acquired through an exclusive cooperation with the AMA.

#muh before #mäh

After the app was launched with cows in September, all common types of sheep are also available for auction since this week. There are about 15,700 sheep farms in Austria, keeping a total of 402,000 sheep. This corresponds to an average flock size of about 26 sheep per farm according to Statistics Austria.

The figures for cow farms look quite different: There are about 54,000 cattle farmers in Austria, with each farm having an average of 35 animals. In total, there are almost 1.9 million cows in Austria. The auction market for cattle alone in Austria amounts to 77 million euros with a good 60,000 animals. "The market is enormous and with our auction app we are digitising this industry. In a first step we started with the cattle trade, now we have added sheep and other animal species will be added step by step," explains viehworld CEO Florian Aspalter.

The interactive tool viehworld increases the added value for everyone involved in the market: for farmers buying and selling, livestock traders, consumers, auction halls and the animals themselves. This is because the app displays all relevant data for the private sale of a livestock animal: from breeding data to pedigree to reproduction. In addition, the user can upload suitable photos and videos for each animal - cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses, etc.

Livestock sales enter the digital age

Neither a membership fee nor a basic fee is due for the transparent auctions on viehworld, but only a small commission for successful sales. The app can only be used by farmers, because after the download and the one-time registration, an AMA identification is also necessary. This guarantees that only industry groups involved in the livestock trade can use the app. Thanks to viehworld, farmers also have more time on the farm, which in turn reduces the effort and increases the yield.

More animal welfare, time & yield

As transport distances are shortened via app sales, the risk of diseases is dramatically reduced, as viehworld co-founder and veterinarian Wolfgang Schiessl points out: "With the help of a geographical filter, we ensure that animals are sold in the immediate vicinity. This guarantees a lower risk of introducing diseases into one's own barn and a minimisation of foreign germ contamination. In addition, every kilometre of transport saved has a positive effect on the stress level of the animals.

All these points make an enormous contribution to sustainability as well as consumer and climate protection: from healthier, regional meat to the reduction of CO2 emissions due to shorter transport routes. "With viehworld we do not see ourselves in any way as competition to auction halls, but as an ideal complementary partnership. Because viehworld offers a crisis-proof alternative when live auctions are not possible as a result of the COVID 19 measures," says Schiessl.

Red-white-red pioneering role

With viehworld, Austria can take on an internationally pioneering role in animal health, data quality and transparency. This is exactly what the creators and investors of the project want to prove - and thus lead the livestock trade into a digital and ecological future.

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