How Cattle Auction Marts Work
Auction marts are an important part of Canada’s cattle industry. They provide a marketplace where livestock producers can sell cattle to competing buyers without having to find an individual buyer for every animal.
Why do farmers use auction marts?
For a cow-calf producer, an auction mart can provide an established market, access to multiple buyers and relatively quick payment after cattle are sold.
The producer does not have to market individual packages of beef, coordinate processing dates, manage cut sheets, collect customer deposits or store finished meat.
What happens at the auction?
Cattle are delivered to the auction facility, sorted into appropriate sale groups and offered to buyers. Depending on the animals and the sale, buyers may include other ranchers, backgrounders, feedlot operators or livestock dealers.
Where do the cattle go?
That depends on who purchases them. Some cattle may return to pasture, some may enter a backgrounding program, some may become breeding stock and others may move toward finishing.
Is selling at auction bad?
No. Auction marts perform a practical role in the cattle economy and have done so for generations.
Farm-direct beef is simply a different model. It can allow the producer and consumer to remain more directly connected, but it also requires the producer to take responsibility for marketing, customer relationships, processing coordination and many other tasks.
Official information
Last reviewed: September 2026