By Managing Director Jon Lowe
Attending this year’s International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) and CattleCon 2026, I was struck by a familiar but intensifying dynamic across food and animal agriculture: a sense of longer term optimism moderated by concerns about shorter term risk and volatility. These industries are not pulling back; but they are moving forward with a greater degree of caution. Demand fundamentals remain strong, capital is still available, and innovation continues to advance. Yet leaders are navigating a confluence of uncertainties that is reshaping how and where they are willing to take risk.
Across both events, conversations returned to common pressure points. Trade remains vulnerable to tariff and policy shifts. Input and output price volatility continues to complicate planning. Labor markets are tight and weather is always a point of discussion. Capital market expectations have raised the bar for investment returns, while regulatory complexity adds another layer of ambiguity. Compounding these factors, many leaders anticipate lower revenue growth rates ahead, making operating performance, not expansion alone, the primary focus.
What makes this moment particularly complex is that these pressures are not moving in unison. Conditions vary sharply by sector, geography, and customer mix, and they can change quickly. What I heard consistently was a concern that what is working today may be less effective as conditions shift, making long-term investments harder to underwrite. The result is a more risk-oriented environment, where capital and resources are allocated with greater selectivity and heightened scrutiny.
At the same time, meaningful growth drivers are coming into sharper focus. Protein demand remains strong, supported by shifting dietary priorities and the growing influence of GLP-1 medications, while technology adoption is accelerating. AI is compressing development timelines, and data-driven tools are being adopted by more producers. The maturation of livestock focused Agtech startups is also evident, with more companies moving from development into execution and scaling phases. Importantly, funding remains available for businesses that can demonstrate quality of earnings and disciplined growth.
For boards and executive teams, these conditions are redefining leadership priorities. Operating discipline has moved to the forefront, with renewed emphasis on margin management, capital efficiency, and return on investment. Strategic focus matters more than ever, leaders are making fewer bets but need to make them decisively. Culture and mission-based leadership have also become central to attracting and retaining talent in a tight labor market. And while interest in AI is high, many leaders are now asking the harder question: how do we deploy it in ways that deliver measurable returns?
These realities have direct implications for leadership and talent development. I see growing demand for proven operators with experience leading through constrained growth environments—executives who understand P&L leverage, prioritization, balance sheets, and trade-offs. “Culture-plus” leadership, combining strong values with operational rigor, is no longer optional. Organizations are also becoming more intentional about leadership pipelines, identifying critical roles earlier and investing in preboarding, onboarding, and early coaching to accelerate impact.
After more than 25 years of attending these industry gatherings, one thing remains clear to me: volatility is not new to food and animal agriculture. What is changing is the pace and complexity of the forces at play. The organizations that navigate this moment most effectively will be those that pair strategic discipline with intentional leadership investment, turning uncertainty into a source of resilience and, ultimately, advantage.
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If you’re navigating similar questions around operating discipline, leadership readiness, or talent strategy, I’d welcome a conversation.
