Cattle slaughterings in the first nine months of the year were estimated to be 1.2 million head, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

The Livestock Slaughterings September 2026 report published today (Tuesday, October 27) highlights that this represents a drop of 47,000 head or 3.7% when compared with the same period in 2025.

However, Mattis Voss, statistician in the CSO Agriculture Accounts and Production Section, noted the number of cattle slaughtered in September 2026 actually grew by 13,000 heads (+9.3%) to 149,000 heads when compared with September 2025.

Between January and September 2026, sheep slaughterings dropped by 21,000 head (-1.2%) to 1.7 million head, when compared with the same nine month period in 2025.

Voss said sheep slaughterings in September 2026 stood at 212,000 head, which is an increase of 8,000 head (+3.8%) on September 2025 levels.

Pig slaughterings are estimated to be 2.6 million head between January and September 2026. This is up by 4.5% or 115,000 head on the same period in 2025.

The number of pigs slaughtered in September 2026 rose by 26,000 heads or 8.8% to 316,000 head when compared with September 2025.

Cattle

Agriland recently reported how data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) showed that 1,346,705 cattle were sold in the country's marts in the first nine months of 2026.

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.

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

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