“Meat is having a moment.” Those are words from Dr. Glynn Tonsor at Kansas State University. Tonsor, a livestock market economist with Kansas State Extension, says it’s good news for U.S. livestock producers.
“Meat is having a moment in the sense that we’re seeing a decline in the prevalence of vegan and vegetarian diets. We’re seeing more interest in meat protein in general. Interest in having meat protein in your diet is growing here in 2025. Some of that has to do with a more active, younger cohort. You know, physical fitness demands more protein, and meat is benefiting from that. Those of us who watch probably too much TV see protein referenced in commercials more than we did a few years ago, so there’s a broader protein discussion going on here. I’m highlighting that because there’s a strong tone that I reference in this piece. About two weeks ago, when I was at the World Pork Expo, euphoria was there because hog prices were up. There’s a new pork campaign. ‘Taste What Pork Can Do For You’ is what the campaign is, but it was part of this broader meat is having a moment.”
However, he said the news isn’t all positive in 2025.
“I’m going to San Diego for the summer cattle industry meetings, and I anticipate some similar euphoria there, because cattle prices are higher and beef is in, so ‘meat is having a moment’ is the phrase I’m using. But I end my comments, and the cattle markets point to the conflicting phrase, or conflicting force, which is macroeconomic uncertainty. The first four or six months of 2025 have had elevated uncertainty about what global trade might be, particularly tariffs, and what that does for those relations, what domestic unemployment and inflation rates might be, and as we have the elevated risk out of the Middle East, put all of those in this broader kind of outside of the meat-livestock space macroeconomic arena, uncertainty is very elevated.”
Continued economic pressure on consumers could quickly shift the demand landscape in the protein market.
“It’s not sufficient to want meat protein. That’s a very good thing, right? The industry should want that to be developed, but a necessary and sufficient condition includes being able to pay for it, right? So, there’s this capacity, right? What is your income? What’s your disposable income? Your net savings? All those kinds of things are tied to this broader macroeconomic story, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the strength of meat demand, despite pretty elevated macroeconomic uncertainty in 2025.”
He said, “The public clearly wants meat protein.”