As the market price of Beef soars all over the world, especially in the United States, the Philippine Government must now come up with a viable Cattle Production Program.
“Beef and veal prices are predicted to increase 9.9% in 2025, with a prediction interval of 7.2 to 12.9% because of an imbalance between demand and supply. On the one side is supply. Herd size has been shrinking, particularly in the US,” according to a market projection published recently.
The picture of the Cattle Industry in the country does not look good.
“As of 30 June 2025, the total cattle inventory reached 2.52 million heads. This indicates a decline of 1.9 percent from the previous year’s same period count of 2.57 million heads,” a Philippine Statistics Authority report said.
The decline unfolds in spite of the Animal Disperal Program in the past which proved to be disastrous and a waste of government resources.
This happened mainly because the animals were given out to farmers without preparing them technically and establishing a viable source of forage.
Things are different now.
With advanced technology in Cattle Farming in confined areas, the availability of feeds with the development of the Silaging technology for Corn, Sorghum and Napier, Backyard Cattle Farming would now be more profitable.
Added to that is the established market which offers a fair price for Beef from farmed Cattle.
What needs to be done to boost the Cattle Industry now is for government to come up with a viable program which would extend loans to farmers for the procurement of Cattle instead of the disastrous Animal Dispersal Program.
Right now, one agency of government, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council which is under the Deparment of Agriculture, extends a Cattle Loaning Program for Out-of-School youth.
This program must be expanded to cover other farmers and provided with additional funds to include financing for Cattle Fattening and Cattle Breeding.
