Dairy cattle prices fall more than any other category

The prices of slaughter cattle have fallen again this week. This time, however, the declines were not uniform. The higher-quality categories remained unchanged, a pattern that is also evident over the longer term. Cattle prices have fallen again this week, although only dairy cattle prices declined. Beef cattle prices remained unchanged. From week 29 to week 30, the U quality remained stable at €6.30. The O quality fell by €0.15, from €5.03 to €4.88. The 1st sausage quality also fell by €0.15, from €3.35 to €3.20. Prices fell sharplyCompared with the beginning of the year, the situation has changed considerably. In week 30, all Dutch quotations were still above the level of two years earlier, but the gap has narrowed considerably since the beginning of the year. It is immediately noticeable that the higher-quality categories have suffered much smaller losses than the lower-quality categories. In the categories in which beef cattle are classified, the gap between the current quotation and that of 2024 – the year before beef prices surged internationally – has narrowed steadily over the course of the year. The U quality was still 54.1% above the level of two years earlier at the beginning of 2026, but by week 30 this had fallen to 26.6%. For the R quality, the difference narrowed from 55.4% to 26.0%. Dairy cattle prices have fallen much more sharplyDairy cattle, however, have seen much steeper price declines over the same period. Looking at the dairy cattle classifications, the contrast is immediately apparent. Prices for O quality, the highest classification usually awarded to dairy cattle, were as much as 72.8% above 2024 levels at the beginning of the year. By week 30, this premium had narrowed to 21.9%. For P quality and the two lowest classifications, the decline was even greater. P quality fell from 78.8% above 2024 levels to 22.0% in week 30. First sausage quality declined from 75.5% to 15.3%, while second sausage quality fell from 76.7% to 16.3%. The decline in the sausage categories has therefore been remarkably uniform. Supply of dairy cattleThe main reason for the difference is the persistently high supply of dairy cattle throughout 2026. This continues to result in significantly higher slaughter numbers. In the latest reported week, 11,192 cattle were slaughtered in the Netherlands. That was 566 more than in the same week of 2025, when 10,626 cattle were slaughtered. Weekly slaughter numbers were therefore 5.3% higher than a year earlier. Up to and including this week, a total of 304,596 cattle have been slaughtered in 2026, compared with 282,132 in the same period last year. That is an increase of 22,464 head, or 8.0%.