Where you stand is largely determined by where you sit. Ask a pig farmer about their outlook on the pork industry, and they'll likely talk about feed prices, federal, state and local regulations, the trade environment and the cutout value.
The beef industry has much to celebrate in 2019. From continued growth in demand to having a sizeable presence on the dinner plate at home and in restaurants, consumers clearly continue to crave beef.
As consumer demand branches off in every direction imaginable, meat and poultry processors are forced to traverse numerous trails and form new alliances, hoping to find success and avoid dead ends.
The meat and poultry industry faces challenges from every angle, in every form, as it heads toward 2020 with a mix of positivity and uncertainty on its mind.
Taken as a whole, 2018 was a strong year for the U.S. economy, and the New Year should keep the momentum rolling. There are concerns ahead, such as the trade war with China and the partial shutdown of the U.S. government (as of press time) that could slow the country's growth.
The industry's recent hot streak has been fueled by consumer demand and favorable market conditions, but as always, challenges and uncertainty loom over the horizon.
In this highly competitive environment, traditional strategies such as raising wages have been minimally effective, forcing meat and poultry processing companies to look for creative approaches to recruit and retain workers.
From an animal welfare perspective, 2018 has been a relative continuation of the past few years. Many of the same challenges still exist, but many within the industry have made the choice to take the challenges head-on and find solutions that work for them.
This is the age of seafood. Foodable Labs, in its 2018 Protein Sourcing Report, noted an 81.3 percent increase in positive social-media mentions of seafood year-over-year.
There is growing interest in lamb especially among consumer segments targeted by the American Lamb Board’s communications programs (Millennials and thoughtful eaters). In addition, there are strong indications that the ALB messages are getting through to these target audiences.