In this episode of The Angus Table, host Scott Wright sits down with Paul Holm, General Manager of Networks at AuctionsPlus, for a comprehensive conversation about online livestock marketing innovation.
Paul shares insights from AuctionsPlus's 40-year evolution as an agency-owned business (50% Elders, 50% Nutrien), the remarkable scale of the platform, the groundbreaking bloodline verification initiative launching in April 2026 to connect seedstock brands with verified commercial offspring and quantify premiums, and the company's commitment to agent education and industry best practice.
They discuss remote workforce management (50% of staff outside Sydney), extraordinarily low dispute rates (0.7% of lots), and why selling positive stories about on-farm practices matters for differentiation.
So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for insights on the digital transformation of livestock marketing.
Key topics covered:
- How AuctionsPlus evolved over 40 years to 220,000 monthly users listing 600,000+ commercial cattle (400,000+ Angus-influenced)
- The assessment process: 130+ data points, assessor training requirements, and offline mobile entry for crush-side efficiency
- Remarkably low dispute rate (0.7% of lots) with agent third-party verification adding trust and integrity
- The innovative bloodline verification initiative to verify commercial vendor purchases their genetics, creative value, increasing trust and quantifying market premiums with analytics
- Sheep genetics ASBV integration with filtering capabilities and buyer notifications for specific genetic profiles
- Feeder-optimised tagging developed through extensive feedlot discovery (weight, age, pregnancy testing criteria)
- Remote workforce management: 50% of staff outside Sydney with regional coverage requiring scheduled communication and quarterly in-person trips
- Why discovery process now involves interviewing buyers/sellers/agents before building features rather than acting on single ideas
- How competitive board members (Elders vs Nutrien) make industry-leading decisions for agency sector benefit
- Why selling positive on-farm stories differentiates brands in the engaged 220,000-user monthly audience
Pull quotes:
"AuctionsPlus is really a tool for agents to be effective for their clients. Our main aim is to connect ag: connecting the producer through to that end buyer. We list well over 600,000 commercial cattle, of which about 400,000 have Angus influence. When we talk about Angus people being AuctionsPlus people, we see that through the numbers."
"We have a dispute rate of 0.7% of all lots. If you break out actual livestock misdescription, it's much lower. A lot of disputes are buyer defaults on machinery… From cattle and sheep, dispute rate is very low. Agents being agents, they tend to get in and negotiate and fix problems up." -
"Currently 86% of our assessments have some form of bloodline claim. What we're doing: if they're claiming AA Angus Stud, that vendor gets notification: do you accept they buy off your stud? Yes or no? The stud vendor verifies it, that gives buyer lot more confidence…It's about adding that trust. We see some very strong premiums off bigger clients."
"It's about selling positive story of what you're doing on farm. You might have 50 cows, you might have 1,500 cows, [it’s] making sure when you're marketing something you're showing what you're doing on farm to make your herd different. Great marketers sell that story. We've got 220,000 users that come to platform every month; they’re a very engaged audience."
"There was research out of University of Melbourne where that third party—the agent or agronomist—if you educate them and educate them well, they tend to flow that through to about 50 other people attached to them. If you get agency education piece done well and effectively, we know that flows back to producer."
"I eat 600 grams of rump steak for lunch every day. Even when I'm on plane, you'll see me hop on with my esky bag. I cart it with me and eat it every day of week. Everyday eating beef is good day because that means you're above ground. I like rump because it's got that full flavor."
Relevant links mentioned in the episode:
- AuctionsPlus website: www.auctionsplus.com.au
Contact details:
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CREDITS:
Host: Scott Wright, CEO. Get in touch via email [email protected]
Producer: Mel Strasburg [email protected]
Audio editing and post-production: Ellen Ronalds Keene at https://perkdigital.com.au