More cattle, hogs and chicken are on the way as farmers seek to capitalize on record livestock profitability, Kansas State livestock economist Glynn Tonsor said last week at the American Farm Bureau convention in San Diego.

Consumer demand has been surprisingly strong despite high prices at the meat counter, triggering the expansion, Tonsor said.

“The U.S. consumer has been willing to pay more for both beef and pork than I expected,” he said. “How strong demand is tells you a lot about how the consumer values the product. This has caused some excitement and pulled the trigger on expansion.”

Lower feed costs have also...