July 8, 2005
livestock prices by SMS
UK farmers could soon be receiving price information from their local market by mobile phone, thanks to a new service being launched by the Meat and Livestock Commission, writes Farmers Weekly.
Once the service is launched on July 18, subscribers will have the data relayed to them via text message for each of the local livestock markets they have signed up for. They could opt for regional information, or prices from individual markets.
"The service makes it easy to see what light or middle lambs, for example, are doing and decide whether to sell or hold on for another week," explains Joanne Knowles, senior manager at MLC economics.
The data will become available once the MLC has received and collated price information from livestock markets. Most prices will be texted through by the end of the day but some will have to wait until the following day.
To subscribe, farmers will have to text a keyword identifying the data they want to 83070. Each SMS will be charged at 50p.
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