Beef Demand – Key Producer Vitality Driver in 2025

By Glynn T. Tonsor

Calendar year 2025 continues to develop as one we are likely to remember for some time.  Cattle prices are up substantially, many areas are greener and wetter than in recent years, and yes, we are on the cusp of college football starting (fingers crossed the KC Royals can make a playoff push also!).  While good times indeed should be enjoyed, it is prudent to pause and take stock of key fundamentals at play.  Here, the outsized role of beef demand is again worth highlighting.

As recently outlined in CBB’s The Drive series (“What’s Demand Got to Do with It?”), producer cattle receipts growing in 2024 were directly the result of higher beef demand.  Anytime you can increase volume (carcass weight growth led to small increase in beef production from 2023) AND increase prices per unit we know demand increased – that was precisely the case for beef in 2024.