The number of cattle sold at livestock marts in Ireland in October 2025 is down 28,500 head on October 2024.

According to figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), just under 217,000 (216,855) head of cattle were sold at Irish marts in October 2025.

This figure is down by almost 28,500 (28,465) head on the number of cattle sold in Irish marts in October 2024, which was 245,320.

Looking at the total number of cattle sold at Irish marts to date, latest DAFM figures show 1.64 million cattle have been sold at the mart as of October 31 this year.

This is an increase of 24,800 on the same time last year.

The number of cattle that returned home from a mart unsold this year is 39,208 head as of October 31, down 40,581 head or over half from the 79,789 cattle unsold at a mart year-on-year.

Looking at private sales or farm-to-farm movements, 1.1 million (1,122,574) cattle have been sold privately as of October 31 this year.

This figure marks a decrease of 37,500 head from the 1.16 million (1,160,136) cattle sold privately as of October 31, 2024.

Just over 84,000 head of cattle were sold privately in October 2025, down 11,700 head from the 96,000 cattle sold privately in October 2024.

Trends

There are a number of reasons for these trends.

The drop-off in Irish cattle numbers this year will have naturally attributed to a reduction in the numbers of cattle being sold.

The substantial rise in cattle prices this year will have also helped reduce the number of cattle returning home from marts unsold.

With the weekly rises in cattle price in the first half of 2025, many more farmers opted to sell their cattle in the mart as they were unsure of the real time value of their animals - such was the rapid increases in prices.

Current market indications suggest more stability to remain in the trade despite some recent factory beef price reductions, albeit from historic highs.