European livestock farming is under growing pressure. An aging farming community, volatile markets, rising costs, stricter environmental regulation, and shifting consumer expectations are forcing farmers to rethink how they produce food and how they stay economically viable and societally relevant. At the same time, cellular agriculture is emerging as a potential contributor to food security and sustainability; yet, it is often framed as a replacement for conventional farming, leading to an increase in polarization and skepticism, rather than constructive engagement.
The urgent need to bridge this gap was the starting point of a new study conducted by RespectFarms within the FEASTS consortium. We set out to document how European livestock farmers run their businesses today, in order to better understand under what conditions new technologies– such as cultivated meat – could realistically be integrated into the existing agricultural system. We conducted 41 in-depth interviews with livestock farmers from 8 EU countries, but rather than directly focusing on cellular agriculture, the research concentrated on farmers’ realities right now: their personal
backgrounds, opinions, income streams, strategic choices, constraints, and visions for the future.
Farmers operate through diverse and hybrid business models
Across countries and production types, we identified 9 recurring agricultural business models and 5 farmers’ personal profiles. The businesses ranged from independent to integrated producers; from
highly specialized and efficiency-driven to diversified and multifunctional. The farmers themselves differed not only in their market orientation choices, but also in risk tolerance, willingness to follow modern trends, attitudes towards cooperation, and reliance on family labor.
Regardless of their differences, one of the most striking findings was that fewer and fewer farms still employ a single, linear business model. In fact, over 63% of the interviewed farmers hybridize two or more agricultural strategies for income stability and buffering against market volatility, regulatory shifts, and climate-related risks. Out of those, almost one half additionally combines agriculture with other
practices like food processing, direct-to-consumer sales, agritourism, education, ecosystem services, or renewable energy production. In this context, farmers often see technological advances as a potential source of added value – provided they can be integrated in a non-disruptive manner. This also indicates that novelties, such as cellular agriculture, do not necessarily represent a threat to the majority of farmers.
Openness to cultivated meat – under one condition
Despite such findings, cultivated meat was omitted as a talking point in these interviews to avoid influencing the farmers’ responses; however, farmers occasionally brought the topic up themselves. A distinct segment of the farmers showed openness to the idea of cultivated meat, and a smaller but notable group followed up with concrete interest in collaborating with RespectFarms – the latter echoed RespectFarms’ previous findings, which identified 1 in 10 farmers as likely adopters of on-farm cultivated meat.
Importantly, positive attitudes in general did not correlate with age, farm size, or production intensity. Instead, compared to the rest, farmers displaying openness to cultivated meat were between 3 and 5 times more likely to rely on diversified revenue streams, and/or employ vertically integrated and ecologically oriented business practices. This aligned with the profile of a farmer who already sees themselves as an entrepreneur, keeping up with the times and actively seeking out new ways to future-proof their business through innovation.
Nevertheless, our findings also highlighted that attitudes alone are not sufficient to enable adoption. Rather, structural capacity, available space, energy access, water, biosecurity, and labor, as well as financial resilience and dependence on external partners, strongly shape what is feasible on any given farm. For many, the question was not whether cultivated meat is interesting, but whether it can realistically be embedded into their operations.
Positioning and collaboration are crucial
Our data indicate that framing cultivated meat as a complement – not a substitute – to livestock, as well as using existing farm resources, knowledge, and trust relationships, creates room for pragmatic engagement amongst the farmers. This also points to a shared responsibility: For policymakers, this means ensuring that regulatory frameworks do not restrict cultivated meat production to a centralized, industrial setting. Further, it is imperative that rural development and climate strategies leave space for farm-based innovation. For technology developers and other stakeholders in the industry, this indicates moving beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and engaging farmers within the value chain to develop adapted equipment, infrastructure, training, and language that resonate with agricultural practice.
From insight to action
European farmers are already navigatingcomplex issues through diversification and innovation, and cultivated meat can become a part of their strategy. These findings will be crucial to RespectFarms’
current and future farmer engagement efforts, as well introducing cultivated meat to more farms, transitioning beyond the pilot project. For this transition to succeed, it needs to be shaped collaboratively. RespectFarms aims to foster a dialogue between agriculture, policy, and technology to help create future models that are practical, inclusive, and grounded in real-life needs.
If you are an industry actor or a policymaker and would you like more insight on how you and your organization can support and catalyze the implementation of cultivated meat on farms, or you already work on innovation in the food system and would like to discuss a collaboration with RespectFarms, reach out to us via info@respectfarms.com.
If you are a farmer interested in exploring new opportunities and learning how cultivated meat can complement your business, we invite you to join our farmer community, get involved with peers, share your opinions, and help shape a farmer-centered future of meat.
The full study, including complementary research on aquafarming conducted by the FEASTS consortium partner S2AQUA, is available here.
