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In a letter to NCBA officers, agricultural economist Stephen R. Koontz says his work is taken out of context when used as a support for mandating beef packers to purchase at least 30% of their cattle on a cash basis.

The facility had been idled since April 23 as it tested team members for COVID-19.

Light cash trade continued with a wide price range. Two of the major packers were active in the market, with one actively making an effort to support 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.

Early week fed cattle sales were steady at $95 to $100 per cwt., and $150 dressed. Friday, however, saw one major jump in and buy a few thousand cattle at $105, $5 higher than last week.

For technology to have value, it must be predictive in both the sick and healthy to minimize treating healthy calves and find those sick calves early.

R-CALF USA has asked President Trump and House and Senate leaders to conduct a review the beef supply chain and consider “whether a physical and geographical restructuring of the meatpacking industry is required."

Calculating fallout from the pandemic and what changes it might bring.

The loss of the food service demand caused beef middle meats to drop to their lowest price in a decade. Conversely, the carcass cutout value has increased, driving a wider spread between live cattle and carcass values.

Cattle are adaptable to a variety of feeding systems and programs, and their growth can be programmed in a very predictable way through changing the net energy of the ration or using “programmed feeding.”

“We need more small plants!”—-The tiny violin solo of the beef industry. To start: there are 853ish USDA beef kill plants in the US, the big four run 27 of them.

The cattle industry continues to struggle getting cattle out of feedyards and into harvest facilities, leading to another week of limited trade.

The Wisconsin plant employs 1,200 people and has been tied to 189 cases of the illness.

Production at the Pasco, Wash., facility will stop while the company works with health officials in surrounding counties to test team members for COVID-19.

Significantly reduced slaughter levels brought the full weight of the COVID-19 crisis to bear on cattle markets this week as cash cattle prices declined and boxed beef prices spiked to record highs.

A Texas-based marketing cooperative is working with beef packers to sort off the fattest cattle in member feedyards for harvest in an attempt to keep cattle from becoming overfinished.

USDA's monthly cattle on feed report estimated March placements to be the lowest since the data series began in 1996.

U.S. hog and live cattle futures eased on Wednesday, with the cash market for the animals weak as processing plants were forced to shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak, traders said.

The reduced number of cattle harvested wasn’t a surprise with the issues that all packers have faced in the past few weeks with COVID-19.

Vaccines can cost more than $3.00 per dose, and if not stored properly they can be rendered ineffective. Producers cannot afford to overlook the importance of how they store vaccines and handle them prior to injection.

The beef cattle industry will receive $5.1 billion of CFAP funding to partially offset 2020 losses due to COVID-19. USDA expects to begin sign-up in early May and distribute payments by late May or early June.

Plant closings and slowdowns are major symptoms of the meat and poultry industries’ disruption due to COVID-19 and product distribution and livestock production are also critical to a smoothly running supply chain.

COVID-19 has temporarily placed a restriction on the number of cattle that can be harvested in a given week. That scenario is usually a recipe for lower prices, but this week’s extremely light fed trade was steady.

Cattle feeding losses increased the week ending April 11, as cash prices fell $6 per cwt. on soft packer demand for market-ready cattle.

Dozens of workers at Tyson's Pasco, WA, beef plant have tested positive for COVID-19, but the plant will remain open under heightened health and safety procedures.

Cattle producers suffer second market disruption in seven months, look to future.

Cargill’s High River, Alta., beef harvest facility has slowed to one shift beginning this week to prioritize the health and safety of employees, reducing harvest to about 1,500 head per day.

Cattle feeders experienced a week of light participation from packers as the impact of COVID-19 begins to hamper beef production facilities.

Another steep decline in both fed cattle and feeder cattle was reported last week. Negotiated cash fed cattle sales were the second smallest since mandatory price reporting began in 2001.

JBS USA says its Greeley, Colo., beef plant will be closed through Tuesday for "deep cleaning" in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 among its thousands of employees. Two employee deaths have been reported.

Zoetis announces the acquisition of Performance Livestock Analytics to enhance its animal health solutions across the continuum of care for beef producers.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer are asking President Donald Trump to investigate possible irregularities in the cattle markets over the past several weeks.

Declining cash fed cattle prices erased profit margins for cattle feeders last week, and declining wholesale beef prices cut packer margins by 34%.

During a Facebook Live address to cattlemen Monday night, R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard outlined four actions his group proposes to "restore balance to our dysfunctional cattle markets."

Cash cattle prices were under pressure as packer demand was soft in both the North and South last week. Numbers of ready cattle will grow in the coming weeks.

Officials in Weld County , Colo., and Hall County, Neb., are monitoring cases of COVID-19 that are linked to JBS USA beef packing facilities.

The unprecedented events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a severe economic downturn and will impact livestock markets going forward.

Cattle prices were in full retreat, giving back all the previous week’s gains. The magnitude of the decline was on full display at feeder cattle auctions with the rollback accelerating throughout the week.

Unprecedented volatility in fed cattle markets during March produced a strong increase in negotiated cash sales from feedlots to packers the final two weeks of the month.

Texas congressman Mike Conaway told AgriTalk radio he believes an investigation into packer profits is likely, but encourages cattlemen and processors to continue working to feed Americans during the COVID-19 crisis.

The hog herd is expanding. That’s according to the USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. Numbers are increasing in all categories compared to one year ago. How expansion continues amid COVID-19 is anyone’s guess.

Can prices gained in last week's fed cattle rally be maintained? There is some concern that the lack of cattle moving in the cash trade is starting to back cattle up and hurt hard-earned gains.

The current cattle market situation creates significant disparities between the current supply and demand situation and expectations for coming supply and demand conditions.

Cash prices charged higher in feedyard country this week, leaving CME futures in the dust. Feeder cattle recovered most of the previous week's losses.

Some American beef packing companies are adding to worker's hourly pay and sick leave in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Some will earn an additional bonus for working all their shifts through May 3.

Sharply higher beef cutout values produced windfall profits for beef packers last week while cattle feeders saw closeouts with average losses about steady, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.

Packer margin is significant. However, why is packer profitability the only focus, and we are not as outraged about the other “elephant in the room” issue within our market?

COVID-19 has fundamentally changed consumer behavior and the U.S. economy. The effects are unprecedented and it is difficult to determine how long the impact will last.

Tyson Foods announced a one-time assistance payments to cattle feeders "in an effort to demonstrate our commitment and support of our valued cattle suppliers."

Panic meat buying emptied shelves and drove the Choice beef cutouts nearly $48 per cwt. higher. Cash fed cattle were higher, but not at a proportionate level.