Land agency 40 years ago

Sure enough 1984 was among them, so my curiosity took me to the date 1st May 1984, which was a Tuesday. The first thought that struck me when I counted the number of meetings (in the office and outside appointments) on the five days to Saturday 5th was 15. I looked over the other three weeks in May 1984 and the trend was similar. Of the various names I was meeting, I could only put a face to probably a third of them.

I knew before I checked my 2024 diary that the number of meetings I had in a week in 1984 was significantly more than 2024. Then it dawned on me – emails and mobile phones. Land sellers and buyers 40 years ago either communicated by phone (landline only) or by appointment. They could not email a map to us, which is often our “starting point”, so usually our process started with a face to face meeting and we would discuss the map and which fields were to be offered to let or for sale. There are still some clients who prefer to meet face to face and call in to discuss a map and their circumstances and preferences which suits fine.

The 1984 diary also revealed that 10-15% of my working week was taken up with Loss Assessing and meeting Loss Adjusters to discuss compensation for bomb damage to buildings and also army search claims where the British Army in south Armagh, were regularly cutting barbed wire fencing while out on patrol across agricultural land. Several Townlands around army bases in Forkhill and Crossmaglen were regularly affected and for some landowners in those areas, we became regular visitors to inspect the latest damage and submit claims on their behalf to the Northern Ireland Office. Subsequent meetings with Loss Adjusters to negotiate fair compensation usually took place in Newry as there were several Adjusters from Belfast firms who regularly visited Newry and surrounding area.

As a business we were also involved in livestock auctions in Dromore and Poyntzpass Livestock Marts. Whilst my father was an Auctioneer for the Ulster Farmers Mart when they had Marts in Belfast (Robson’s and later Allam’s), Limavady Lurgan, Enniskillen and Armagh, my own involvement in the early 1980’s was Dromore on a Thursday morning (calves) and Poyntzpass on a Saturday morning (pigs).

Not only were there considerably more Livestock Marts operating within NI 40 years ago, there were also a greater number of livestock dealers in operation back then. Their role was to acquire livestock for their farmer clients, at “good value”. If they paid too much for individual calves or pigs in any given week, they were at risk of loosing their client or “instruction” and the business going elsewhere.

On the other hand, the Auctioneer’s role was to obtain “best price” for livestock on behalf of the seller and similarly if the farmer who had taken his livestock to Dromore or Poyntzpass thought he was not getting enough then he had the choice of taking them to an alternative Mart the next week (and in some instances the following day depending on the Mart rota). Thus there existed a healthy mutual respect (most days!) between Auctioneer and Dealer, which might vary week to week, often depending on how many “head” the dealer acquired the previous week or how many the Auctioneer had to “re-sell” and offer for a second time in the ring on the same day.

By coincidence, I came across two regular attendees of Dromore Livestock Mart calf ring from the early 1980’s. Firstly a regular calf seller, a farmer in his youth and we met by chance in a local restaurant. He recognised me, whereby I initially struggled to recall the name, but we had an interesting conversation about the “good old days” of the early eighties, in particular the “calf ring” and what we were both spending our time on all those years later. Interestingly he referred to the “shenanigans” of the dealers back in those days, which was often how the farmers regarded some of the dealers (referring to their agreement with each other not to bid up the price against fellow dealers).

Back then, in the eyes of some farmers selling livestock, they would have preferred fewer dealers and more farmers buying their livestock.

As Mart owners, we would have been of the opinion that a successful Mart required a balanced mix of both, as long as all lots purchased were paid for on the day.

A few weeks later, walking down Hill Street, Newry, a few hundred yards from the office, I received this “look” from someone walking towards me and then heard my name after passing him. As before, recognition and putting a name to the face was not my strong point, although he took pity and helped me out! We must have been talking for 20 minutes about the characters (both dealers and farmers) who frequented the Marts and where some of them are now. He had a great recall and could remember stories from by father’s time when he was selling livestock at Fairgreen, Enniskillen.

Back to the 1984 diary and taking a look at the months of November and December, most Wednesdays (all day) and Fridays (morning) were taken over by conacre lettings out around the country. Usually these would have started at 10am, with five or six different lettings taking place in neighbouring Townlands in the morning. As usually the previous year’s tenant would be keen to take the same land again, there would be uproar and angst (and some cursing!) if a third party stepped in to bid on land they had not taken previously. Sometimes if this type of incident happened a few times in the one locality, it was a sure sign that demand was exceeding supply and prices in that locality had to be increased. As probably back then 75% of our land lettings were Public Auction and 25% negotiated privately, the “headline prices” from the Auctions around the country, became the “fuel” for our private negotiations, where supply and demand determined prices for another year.

About the Author: Garry Best is Managing Director of Best Property Services, a fifth-generation family business with over 130 years of industry experience across land, commercial and residential property sales, with offices in Newry, Warrenpoint and Dungannon. Garry brings a wealth of expertise in Land Division including Valuation, Sale, Acquisition, Letting and Negotiating Compensation, with extensive experience in asset disposal.