Livestock Markets and Auctioneers
A short list of livestock markets with their own websites, plus the trade body's locator for the rest.
This page lists 9 livestock markets and auctioneers, plus the trade body's locator for the rest, each checked against its own website. Before you sell or buy, have passports and movement reporting ready, and check the TB testing rules for the animals you are moving.
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What should I check before I sell or buy through a mart or auctioneer?
The locator above finds you a mart. It cannot tell you how that mart works, so ring the office and ask four things. Does it sell your class of stock on a regular day. Does it scan EID, which in England makes it a central point recording centre for sheep. What does it report for you, and what is still your job. And does it run any TB-restricted or slaughter-only sales, which go through under licence.
Ask for the conditions of sale and the commission and other charges in writing, so you can compare marts on the same footing. The usual trap is bringing the right animals with the wrong paperwork, so the sections below take the day in order.
What paperwork and ID must go with the animals on the day?
For cattle, the rule is plain. GOV.UK says you must not move any live cattle without a full passport, and each animal needs the correct ear tags. Record the move off in the passport before the animal leaves the yard. If a passport is missing, start with what a cattle without a passport means and the 27-day passport rule. Check each passport against the ear tags a few days before the sale, while there is still time to put a mismatch right, and have your holding register up to date before anything is loaded.
For sheep, the tags go in before the move, not at the ringside. Our sheep EID tag and flock register guide covers what counts as correctly tagged.
Who reports the movement when stock goes through a market?
Not the market alone. In England and Wales the seller records and reports the cattle movement off, the market reports the movement onto its own holding and off again when the animal is sold, and the buyer reports it onto theirs. The keeper's deadline is 3 days: see our 3-day cattle movement guide.
For sheep in England, tick the central point recording centre box on the LIS-1 and you give the date and total number, then the market gives you the individual ID numbers to add to your register. In Scotland, markets report the chain for you, but the keeper stays legally responsible for accurate records. Wales and Northern Ireland differ again: see sheep movement reporting by nation and the cattle systems by nation.
What do the TB rules mean for cattle I buy or sell at a market?
In England and Wales, cattle must have tested negative within 60 days before movement unless an exemption applies, such as being under 42 days old. If you are the buyer, GOV.UK says to ask for evidence of the test, and to keep it.
If your herd is under TB restriction, you need a licence before cattle go on or off. Moves to slaughter, a red market gathering or a dedicated TB sale all fall under that licensing, and applications can take up to 5 working days, so do not leave it to sale week. Bought-in cattle can also need a post-movement test: see our bovine TB testing and movement guide, and ask your own vet about your herd.
Can I sell animals that are still in a medicine withdrawal period?
Check the end date before the animal is loaded, because it is the earliest day meat could enter the food chain. A vet who prescribes under the cascade must specify an appropriate withdrawal period, with a minimum of 28 days for meat where the product is not authorised for food-producing animals. Our withdrawal periods guide shows how the dates are worked out.
A mart sale hands the animal to a buyer who may send it for slaughter within days, so your medicine book matters long after it leaves you. Abattoirs must not accept animals unless they have requested and received food chain information from the holding supplying them. See the Red Tractor medicine book guide.
How are livestock sales invoiced, and is VAT charged?
Most livestock sales are zero-rated. HMRC's animals notice zero-rates live animals of a kind used for, or producing, food for human consumption. Animals removed from the food chain as unfit for human consumption are standard-rated. Breeding bulls and sheep kept mainly for wool are still zero-rated, because they are of a food-producing kind.
Zero-rated is not outside VAT. The sales still count towards your turnover, so watch the VAT registration threshold. Check the mart's sale note against the farm invoice requirements. Commission and any other mart charges are a matter for your accountant, and if you are on the flat rate scheme, ask your accountant how mart sales are treated and read our flat rate scheme guide.
What do farmers actually ask?
How long is the standstill after buying stock at a market?
In England and Wales, if cattle, sheep, goats or pigs arrive from another holding, you cannot move cattle, sheep, goats or pigs off for 6 days. Day 1 is the day after arrival, and moves directly to slaughter are exempt. Scotland is 13 days. Our livestock deadlines table sets the dates side by side.
Can I send cattle to market without a passport?
No. A full passport must go with every animal, and moving without one needs a movement licence, which cannot be sorted at the ringside. Check passports against ear tags a few days before the sale. See what to do if one is late or missing.
If the market reports the sale, do I still have to report it?
Yes, in England you still report your own movement off, and the market reports its own on and off moves. In Scotland the market reports the chain, but the keeper stays responsible. Check what the market has recorded, because a wrong tag number or date is your problem to correct. Our sheep reporting guide shows the checks.
Why do my records matter if the market handles the sale?
Because you keep the evidence. Passports, test charts, the holding register, medicine book and sale note all sit with you. Our holding register guide lists what to record. FarmHQ, a farm office app for UK cattle and sheep farms now in beta, can hold these in one place, but a notebook kept up to date works too.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Moving cattle, what cattle keepers need to know
- GOV.UK: Sheep and goat movements, rules for markets, showgrounds, collection and assembly centres
- GOV.UK: Bovine TB pre-movement and post-movement testing
- GOV.UK: Move animals under disease controls
- Scottish Government: Livestock identification and traceability, cattle
- GOV.UK: Food chain information
- legislation.gov.uk: Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013, Schedule 4, paragraph 2
- HMRC: Animals and animal food (VAT Notice 701/15)