Prince George struggling with rising beef prices, what’s behind it?

While other shoppers were quick to mention that prices in general have been challenging, and not specifically just beef, the beef rise in particular has lead some to avoid it until costs become more manageable.

“You can not afford it anymore because it’s too much, it’s too pricey nowadays, so I always wait for a sale,” added another shopper.

Statistics Canada says there has been a 53% increase in price for beef striploin cuts from December 2023 to October 2025, going from $20.67 per kilogram to $31.66 . This is the largest increase, with other beef products like ground beef seeing around a 24% increase and stewing beef seeing an 8% increase in that same timespan. But what’s behind this increase? The Prince George Cattleman’s Association President Tom De Waal explained there are a wide variety of factors and challenges ranchers are facing, but among them is a shortage in cows.

“Your North American cow herd today is at the lowest level that’s been since 1962, and there’s several factors that have gone into that. You had BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or mad cow disease) in 2003, which took care of a big portion of your mother cows, you’ve had numerous droughts over the years,” De Waal said.

“You have half the producers that have half the amount of cattle. And now your processors can’t get ahold of enough red meat protein, and their margins are super big, so what ends up happening is it gets to the consumer at an extremely high price,” De Waal continued.

Despite the grocery store prices increases, De Waal says ranchers themselves haven’t seen the profit gain you might expect, and that ranchers are still operating on thin margins. He says this is due to the middle man of processing plants and retailers themselves, which he says adds significant cost to the product.

“A fat steer, an animal that’s ready to be harvested, is going to be just over $5,000 to buy. But if you elect to go to a retailer to buy it, that $5,000 steer that you’re buying now becomes $12,000 a year,” he said.

“As soon as that animal goes to be harvested and it gets into the Cargills and the JBS’s of the world… we have the same problem in Canada as they have in the United States. We have two major meatpackers in Canada, and they handle 80% of all the red meat in Canada. So what ends up happening? You’re at their mercy,” he continued.

Ranchers have also faced significant rises in operational costs, ranging from fuel prices, animal feed, machinery, and more.

“In 2013, an about 130 horsepower tractor was $88,000. That same tractor today, in 2025, 12 years later, is over $200,000,” he said.

Are there any solutions to try and manage costs? De Waal says for customers, one option is to go directly to farmers themselves and buy from them to avoid the middle man.

“The farmer is getting $5,000 for that animal, but by the time it’s retailed out in the store, that same animal is 12,000 bucks,” he said.

by Tommy Osborne

Prince George struggling with rising beef prices, what’s behind it?

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