Press release

What the new TB rules will mean for farmers at livestock marts

From: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on: 8 April 2026
Last updated on: 8 April 2026

Background

Updates to the bTB eradication programme will mean you will see changes on how cattle move through livestock marts.

Selling cattle	Your animal will be assigned to one of three groups so that it can be presented for sale. Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) will notify your mart of your animals grouping. The groups are described at table 1 below.
Buying cattle	Your herd will also be assigned to a group. Your group will determine what animals you are eligible to buy. These groups are described in table 2.

Selling your cattle - Animal groups explained

When your cattle are presented for sale, they will be grouped by AIM based on the destination they can be moved to as set out in table 1 below. You will be able to see your animal’s grouping on the animal details screen available on AIM through myAgfood.ie from Monday, 13 April 2026.

Table 1

Group	Defined by animal movement criteria under bTB programme
Group 1 (OPEN) Anyone can buy	Young stock (heifers/non cow females or males under 36 months) that are in test (animal tested in last 12 months) Cows or males over 36 months if they have a 30-day premovement test Beef breed cows or males over 36 months on an AHL test (animal and the herd the animal is in were tested in the last 6 months)
Group 2 (DRY) Can only be bought by non-milk-supplying and non-breeding herd and CFUs	Dairy breed cows with an AHL test (animal and the herd the animal is in were tested in the last 6 months)
Group 3 (CFU) – Only DAFM approved controlled finishing units can buy	Cows that were part of an exposed cohort in herds greater than 80 cows that were GIF tested Any in test animal, including in test dairy breed cows not included in Group 1 and 2 above

Buying cattle

Livestock marts will now be required to check with AIM that your herd is an eligible destination for animals you buy at the mart. If AIM notifies the mart that your herd is not an eligible destination, you will not be allowed to purchase those animals.

You will be able to see your herd group on AIM via myAgfood.ie from Monday, 13 April 2026.

Eligible destination herds

Group	Eligible destination herds
Group 1 (OPEN)	Herds in this group can only buy group 1 animals. This group of herds includes breeding herds and herds with a milk supply contract in place.
Group 2 (DRY)	Herds in this group can buy both group 1 animals and group 2 animals. They are non-milk-supplying, non-breeding herds. If you purchase group 2 animals, these can only be subsequently moved directly to slaughter.
Group 3 (CFU)	Approved DAFM CFUs can buy any animal - group 1, 2 or 3. Animals can only move from CFUs directly to slaughter.

Please note for farm-to-farm movements AIM will automatically conduct these checks when a farm-to-farm movement certificate has been applied for.

For further information and updates please see www.bovinetb.ie.

What the new TB rules will mean for farmers at livestock marts

How was your experience on the current page? * (required)

How was your experience on the current page? (required)