A highlight from Out the Gate 2025 was global meat market expert, Simon Quilty’s in-depth analysis of the impacts and outlooks for New Zealand red meat trade. Watch his presentation and a follow up where he answers farmers questions.
Watch Simon Quilty at Out the Gate 2025 – global market ripple effect
Farmers are still raving about Global Agritrends Downunder, Simon Quilty’s presentation at Out the Gate 2025, labelling his talk as a ‘must-watch’ session.
In the presentation you can watch below, Simon provides insights into how shifting supply and demand dynamics are shaping pricing and opportunities for New Zealand beef and lamb.
Whilst this is recoded before the US announcement to impose tariffs on New Zealand exports, Simon was relatively optimistic for New Zealand beef and lamb exports because he was expecting exceptionally tight global protein supply for the next couple of years, particularly for beef – with US, Brazilian and Australian supply all expected to be low as they go through a rebuild phase. This dynamic would help offset the negative impact of tariffs.
He emphasised that the US has a critical need for New Zealand’s lean beef, with grinding meat playing a major role in meeting demand. The rising cost of US protein has also lifted lamb prices, creating further opportunities for New Zealand farmers.
Follow up – Simon’s reaction to US tariff announcement and answering farmer questions
B+LNZ spoke to Simon Quilty to get his initial reaction to the announcement of US tariffs on New Zealand exports and to answer questions from farmers about his Out the Gate 2025 presentation above.
Simon was still generally optimistic, stating a 10 percent tariff is “as good an outcome as we could have hoped” into the US. The US’s imposition of tariffs could create opportunities for New Zealand (and Australia) if US beef was shut out of its export markets in retaliation and this would be something to watch. He noted that we were just at the start of the process and there was a long way to run from here.
While Simon is still relatively optimistic about the outlook for red meat in the next couple of years because of the lack of global supply, he noted prices would likely ease rapidly again in a few years once the Australian supply gets back.
Learn more about Out the Gate 2025
B+LNZ shares other takeaways from Out the Gate 2025 in this article.