Dairy cattle and beef markets show clear differences

The official cattle prices have clearly increased in both the Netherlands and Germany. However, sounds from the market contrast with these observations. Additionally, the exact tightness of 2025 is becoming visible now that the year has passed. The prices of cattle have increased this week in both the Netherlands and Germany. In both countries, prices have risen across the board. In Germany, this marks the second consecutive week with an increase of 5 cents. In the case of O-quality, there was an increase of 10 cents: from €5.80 to €5.90 per kilo. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the price rose by 8 cents, from €5.80 to €5.88. This is a somewhat remarkable result. It appears that the price of beef cattle is indeed rising by this magnitude. However, it is reported on the Dutch market that the price of dairy cows is under pressure. There are talks of declines of up to 15 cents per kilo. This is not surprising since the prices of beef scraps are already so high that it is difficult to recoup slaughter prices. In Denmark, this decline is already slightly visible. Prices for cattle with a higher fat percentage are decreasing by between 50 and 200 ore (between 7 and 27 euro cents), according to Danish Crown's quotation. Since dairy cattle are primarily slaughtered for scraps, it makes sense that these prices would drop first. Additionally, there are reports in the market that the supply of dairy cattle is still in good shape. Furthermore, both the sale of luxury parts and the sale of meat scraps are not performing well. This weaker demand is clearly putting pressure on the Dutch cattle market. Dutch slaughter figures fall sharply Now that 2025 has passed, it becomes clear how much the shortage has increased this year. In the Netherlands, 4.9% fewer cattle were slaughtered in 2025 than the year before. The total in that year was 527,585 cattle, compared to a slaughter figure of 553,542 cattle in 2024. However, meat production is slightly compensated by an increase in slaughter weight of approximately 3.5 kilos (around 1%). As a result, the sum of slaughter weights fell by only 4% compared to 2024. Throughout the year, the slaughter figure was lower than in 2024. Particularly in weeks 14 to 19, the slaughter rate was clearly lower. During this period, global scarcity was simply at its peak. A clear exception was visible in the period from week 42 to week 47. During that period, supply clearly increased, surpassing the level of the previous year. This was due to a sharp decline in milk fat prices, which caused the milk price to drop significantly. As a result, it became more profitable to have older, less productive cattle slaughtered. Consequently, the supply of dairy cattle increased significantly.