If someone asked me to sum up the World Meat Congress, it would be a message of resounding positivity for meat producers across all species.

Rising global consumption looks set to continue, with global meat consumption forecast to rise by 1.2% over the next four years.

Much of this will be fuelled by increases in poultry meat consumption across the world, but beef and lamb consumption is also forecast to rise after a number of years of stagnation.

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Recovering disposable incomes and a growing middle class is also helping to fuel global demand for meat. On the production side, beef production continues to evolve in changing patterns across the world.

Some of the largest beef producing nations of the world have undergone huge changes in 2025. Australian beef production has reached record levels in 2025, with big increases in exports to the USA and China.

Australia continues to make inroads into the British market with exports increasing in 2025. High prices have meant more heifers have been slaughtered and production is set to ease back from 2026 onwards.

Brazil, one of the largest global beef producers, has seen exports rise by almost 17% for the first nine months of 2025.

Brazil accounts for 28% of global beef production, and the move by the USA to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian beef earlier this year sent a shockwave through beef exporting circles but it has been managed well, with Brazil diversifying to other markets.

Production is also expected to drop back across South America in the next few years as slaughter numbers tighten.

Major purchaser

China, a major player in global beef imports and a very important customer for South American beef, will continue to be a major purchaser of beef in the short term.

China’s domestic production, despite their best efforts, is nowhere near where it needs to be to meet demand.

Serious issues remain with South American beef production systems, with standards not even approaching those of Europe, no matter what proponents of the Mercosur deal say.

Just this week, we have seen a ship with 3,000 Uruguayan cattle denied entry to Turkey on the back of tagging discrepancies.

It should be noted that Uruguay is a lot more advanced with their cattle traceability system compared to Brazil, but yet serious issues remain.

The reduced supply in the major beef producing countries has underpinned prices, but with that has come some consumer sensitivity towards the price of beef compared with other proteins.

Recent Worldpanel beef retail data from the UK points to a more price conscious consumer when it comes to beef purchases. Roasting joints increased in price by 14% in the 12 weeks to 7 September 2025 and with that came a reduction of 22% in roasting joint sales. This will be a cause for concern, with shoppers already turning to cheaper forms of protein.

Well placed

One thing that did resonate with me at the conference was how the Irish production system is well placed to meet the demands of the new age of consumers who are sitting down at the table to eat.

Irish farmers are often critical about all the hoops they have to jump through in relation to quality assurance and other schemes.

It was referenced on a number of occasions at the conference that the meat consumer of tomorrow won’t just simply accept being told that a particular country’s beef has positive environmental or animal welfare attributes.

Consumers now want evidence and proof that this is the case. Through Origin Green and AgNav, Ireland is probably one of the best placed countries in the world to meet these new demands.

The test will be on price, especially if the Mercosur deal is ratified and cheaper product becomes available to the European consumer in particular.