News Milk
Luxury cattle at record high, sausage cow price lags behind
The prices of U- and R-quality cattle have reached a record level on the listing of Vee & Logistiek. Remarkably, the prices on the cattle market accelerated after the holidays. The lower qualities have also risen, but are well below record level.
Read this article?
Become a subscriber and get instant access
Choose the subscription that suits you
U-quality beef has reached a new record of €5,98 per kilo, 10 cents more than the previous record. In the aftermath of the Ukraine war, the price reached the level of €5,88. R-quality is now even well above the level of 2022. This previous record was €5,43 per kilo. In week 8, R-quality cattle were traded for €5,65 per kilo.
The high price of luxury beef cattle has risen sharply since the autumn of 2024. Shortages of French calves have made it difficult for fatteners in the Netherlands to obtain sufficient cattle since this period. This has caused prices to rise sharply.
Increase in January
Remarkably, prices only started to rise after Christmas. Usually, beef prices fall after the holidays because demand decreases. This year, however, so much was slaughtered before Christmas demand that the market was faced with extreme tightness after the holidays. In the meantime, demand for beef cattle scraps remains very high, which has caused prices to rise sharply.
Meanwhile, the prices of the lower qualities have risen less sharply. The P-quality rose to €4,13 per kilo in recent weeks. This still leaves the price 37 cents below the record of €4,50 per kilo, at the time of the start of the Ukraine war. The second sausage quality is at €3,23 per kilo. That is 50 cents lower than the record level of 2022.