Several plants have been suspended in Brazil but only one has in the U.S., where more than 16,000 meatpacking workers in dozens of plants have been infected with coronavirus.
Nationwide, 30% to 50% of meatpacking employees were absent last week, said Mark Lauritsen, a vice president at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).
CoBank estimates meat supplies at grocery stores could shrink nearly 30% by Memorial Day, leading to prices rising by as much as 20%. Some cattle producers say they are barely hanging on due to futures prices.
The latest shock to the industry is the daily boxed beef price. On Thursday, it hit a record of $364.62. That is a jump of $30 over Wednesday, a two-thirds increase from the lows in February.
The cattle market has been dynamic over the last couple of weeks. Consumers have been hoarding meat due to COVID-19 while the futures and cash prices are not necessarily reflecting it.
Estimated cattle industry losses due to COVID-19 will reach $13.6 billion, according to a study by ag economists conducted to assist USDA in determining how best to allocate CARES Act relief funds to cattle producers.
Producers watch to see if retail beef demand will continue its slow decline as consumers’ freezers are now packed with meat. There’s a discussion on market manipulation and if there’s a need for an investigation.
Fears of the coronavirus continue to haunt the stock market despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to calm it. Live cattle prices have dropped to numbers producers and traders haven’t seen in nearly a decade.
AgDay visited a feeder cattle auction at the Shipshewana Trading Place in Shipshewana, Indiana to find out what prices were like there to kick off 2020.
