After a blistering start to the year mart throughput in May fell by approximately 100,000 head when compared to April throughput levels. The seasonal decline from April to May is typically in the region of 55,000 to 70,000 head but such was the high level of activity in sales it was always expected that there would be a significant drop off in throughput in May.

Despite the reduction in May and throughput running almost 22,000 head lower than in May 2024, the number of cattle traded for the year to date in 2025, at 957,155 head, is still running 63,792 head higher. The higher sales figures in 2025 are being boosted by the number of cattle presented but unsold in marts falling from 41,175 head for the first five months in 2024 to 19,937 in 2025.

Regional activity

Marts in Munster accounted for 51.6% of total sales figures. This is slightly ahead of the corresponding period in 2025 while marts in Leinster were next handling 22.7% of all animals sold. This was followed by 16.7% of cattle sales in Connacht and 8.9% in Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan.

Just 1.4% of cattle presented in sales in Munster went unsold while 2.1% of all cattle entered in sales in Leinster were unsold. This compares to 2.5% of animals unsold in sales in Ulster and 3.5% in Connacht.

Farm movements

The number of cattle changing hands by way of farm-to-farm movements was recorded at 809,285 head for the first five months of the year. This is on a par to 2024 movements while the trend in higher movements in the first four months of the year and a quieter May was also apparent.

The same regional variation was also apparent in farm-to-farm movements with 48% recorded in Munster, 32% in Leinster, 12.4% in Connacht and 7.6% in Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan. The movement location is recorded as the herd from which the animals are leaving.