1,346,705 cattle were sold in the country's marts in the first nine months of 2026, according to data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

This represents a decrease of almost 79,717 head or 6% compared to the same period last year when 1,426,422 bovines were sold in marts.

Overall, mart throughput for cattle up to the end of September 2026 stood at nearly 1.4 million head, down from 1,459,108 in the corresponding timeframe in 2025.

Just over 53,000 animals were returned home from marts unsold between January and September 2026, up from 32,686 over the same nine months in 2025.

Marts

The department's figures show 220,818 cattle were sold in marts in Connacht up to the end of September, down from 252,233 in the same period last year.

690,487 cattle were traded through marts in Munster in the first three quarters of 2026, compared with 708,132 over the same timeframe last year.

In Leinster, 320,013 cattle were sold in marts in the period which is back by around 21,000 head on last year when 341,308 animals were traded.

115,387 cattle were sold in marts in Ulster up to the end of September 2026, down from 124,749 last year.

Farm movements

Over 900,000 farm-to-farm cattle movements were recorded in the first nine months of 2026.

Munster accounted for 411,536 (45%) of the 915,632 farm-to-farm bovine movements between January and September this year.

There were 305,465 movements in Leinster, 122,351 in Connacht and 76,280 in Ulster.

By comparison, there were 1.04 million farm-to-farm bovine movements up to the end of September 2025.

Between January and September 2025, there were 479,384 movements in Munster, 338,357 in Leinster, 139,332 in Connacht and 82,113 in Ulster.

DAFM noted the statistics relate to the province in which the seller of the animals is located.