Selling Pen by Pen

A view from the catwalk of the pen layout.

Today, my fellow students and I toured the Liniers Livestock Market, located right in the heart of Buenos Aires. This sale barn at one time was the largest in the world, but today, is still competitive at a global level selling an average of 10,000 head of cattle per day. 


There is a huge market for all kinds of beef, but you generally see cattle that have a finished weight from 900 to 1,000 lbs for domestic consumption. In the U.S., cattle are not slaughtered until they reach about 1300 - 1400 lbs. This is because Argentinians prefer leaner beef and smaller cuts. Americans prefer more marbling. 

Cattle are sold by pen and this is an average size of the pens. About 30 head of cattle on average in some of the pens. These are finished cattle that would be about 1,000 lbs.

The livestock market is over 100 years old, but still has impressive facility on 85 acres used for holding pens, catwalks, and chutes for loading and unloading. The cattle are sold in pens ranging anywhere from 1 to 30 head. Each pen is sorted prior to sale, so all the cows in the pen are similar. All the  cattle go directly to slaughter shortly after they are purchased.  We were able to watch this type of sale up close today.

A good view of the buyers up on the catwalk looking down on the pens. Buyers move from pen to pen on the catwalk following the auctioneer as he sells the cattle.