Livestock markets and sale yards are transit hubs where animals from multiple sources are mixed, held, and resold. They represent a distinct welfare challenge involving injury, disease, stress, and inadequate inspection.
Livestock markets concentrate welfare risks by combining transport stress, novel environments, mixing of unfamiliar animals, and handling by unfamiliar people in rapid succession. The welfare science on livestock market conditions consistently identifies them as high-harm points in the supply chain. Direct farm-to-processor trading that eliminates market handling represents a welfare improvement that many welfare-forward producers have adopted.