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I can finally share one of the biggest things I’ve been working on this year. HoofnHorn is a new online marketplace for heritage livestock that I’ve been building with my business partner, Jason, and it officially opens October 22.
The idea goes all the way back to a night in Michigan in 2018. I was sitting around with friends after one of our early Southeast Highland auctions talking about what worked, what didn’t and how we could make buying and selling cattle easier. That conversation eventually led me to try building a simple online marketplace for Highlands, but at the time I was really only thinking about making it easier to list and find cattle.
I’ve learned a lot since then, including plenty of things the hard way. I know how difficult it can be to find good cattle when listings are scattered everywhere. I know how complicated it can be to put together a good livestock listing, how outdated a lot of livestock websites feel and how hard it can be to know who you are dealing with online. I’ve bought cattle I regretted buying, been scammed myself, sold a lot of cattle online and spent years helping organize a livestock auction. I’m taking those experiences, including my own mistakes, and using them to build something better.
Hoofnhorn gives sellers a place to create detailed listings with photos, videos, pedigrees, registration information and more, while giving buyers one place to search for heritage livestock and learn more about the animals and the people selling them. Verified users add another layer of transparency, there are no listing fees, and fees only apply when an animal sells.
I also want to help good breeders become better marketers. I’ve seen really good cattle get overlooked because of bad photos or incomplete listings, and I know not every breeder has a huge audience to market to. HoofnHorn also has an affiliate program so breeders, farmers, associations and creators can refer buyers and sellers and earn a share of the closing fee on referred transactions.
The biggest difference this time is that I’m not trying to build everything myself. Jason brings the technology background, while I bring years of experience as a breeder, buyer, seller and auction organizer. We look at the same problems from very different sides, and that has allowed us to build something much bigger than I could have built on my own.
Breeders can create accounts and start building listings now, and buying and bidding officially open October 22. I’m excited to finally show everyone what we’ve been working on.
