Slight increase expected in Philippine beef production

Production has stagnated due to limited land

The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service post in Manila forecasts the Philippines 2025 beef and carabeef production at 184,000 MT CWE, up less than 1% compared to 2024, according to a recent US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report.

In recent years production has stagnated as inventories remain constrained due to limited land suitable for raising cattle and high feed prices. Increased imports of cattle genetics and live animals have resulted in the sector keeping pace with current beef and carabeef production but is not resulting in a meaningful increase in herd numbers or overall meat production.

Inventory, slaughter, and beef / carabeef production all illustrate the stagnant nature of the sector supporting FAS Manila’s 2025 forecast for beef and carabeef production. Given that it takes two to three years to raise beef cattle from planning to plate, any shift from swine to cattle or carabao that occurred earlier on during the ASF outbreak is only now reaching slaughter age.

Despite some shifts from swine into beef production, the commercial cattle sector comprises only 2% of total cattle inventory, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data.