Major slump hits marts as fewer cattle on sale

THERE were 18% fewer cattle in 2002 in the marts of Ireland than in 2000.

The computerised Cattle Movement Monitoring System has confirmed that the mart business had deteriorated since 2000, when 1.69m cattle were offered for sale.

Throughput slumped to 1.11m in 2001, the foot and mouth year, and recovered to 1.38m in 2002.