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COVID 19 provide food to consumers is The Midwest Cattleman · October 1, 2020 · P12
continued from page 3 the first step to understand-
ing the markets. with it. That caused a de- all disruption to the supply
ed. Following both of these de- “Even though there are a crease in cattle prices for pro- of plant-based ingredients
mand shocks, there was a sub- couple million farmers, all of ducers. But, as that process- other than when lockdowns
stantial supply shock when that product doesn’t go to con- ing fell, the cost for wholesale occurred. However, Lusk said
many packers shut down due sumers,” he said. prices skyrocketed due to the the sustainability of plant-
to COVID outbreaks. Trying to make the in- decreased supply. based meat substitute mar-
Because of this rapid shift dustry more resilient, some “You get these two things ket most likely came from the
in the market, Lusk said cat- looked to small processors at the same time, which real- still relatively low volume of
tle markets began getting to ramp up production. Lusk ly caused this widening price product moved compared to
national attention on a scale said that idea relies heavi- spread,” Lusk said. traditional beef.
that he’d never seen. After a ly on more small processors He doesn’t believe many To close the webinar, Lusk
bit of recovery when several coming online. Roughly 100 packers were intentionally highlighted some of the
states began reopening in late new small-scale processors stalling production to keep changes he expects to come
May, cattle markets took an- would be needed to make up prices high, he said, because to the cattle market. While
other lick when those states for just one of the large plants, those packers would be fight- he imagines the economic re-
shut down again after a spike he estimated. ing tooth and nail to get more cession will affect beef prices
in cases. The bigger concern for the cattle into the market at the negatively, some long-term ef-
All of these back and forth cattle market over the last highest prices, to begin with. fects may bring positive news.
shocks have been propped up several months has been Based on his interpreta- Those include the greater
by the at-home food prices. whether or not the fairly tion of the data, and the fact focus on equality in the cattle
Consumers are buying and concentrated packing plants that many of the packers’ markets and the consumer’s
storing meat products like have been playing fair with stock prices actually declined newfound appreciation for
never before. However, due the cattle markets. The USDA during the pandemic, Lusk the food supply chain.
to consumer comfort levels, report on cattle markets since said that all blame should be There may be a greater
Lusk said meat prices for cer- the plant fire in Kansas found put on COVID-19, not each focus on automation in the
tain products didn’t recover no wrongdoing overall by the sector of the industry. meatpacking industry, given
through summer. packers, but Lusk said all of “We know cattle producers a lot of the issues packers
“You see it even more dra- it is conjecture as there is no were hurt,” he said. “It’s also face each year, and especial-
matically in pork, based on clear data on packer profits. clear that consumers were ly during the pandemic, has
what people are comfortable However, Lusk said he harmed, as their prices in- come from labor.
with eating at home,” he said. doesn’t necessarily believe creased significantly. What “Automation is just a hard
As the pandemic pro- there was wrongdoing either. about the packers? It’s un- problem in meatpacking,”
gressed, national attention “I can’t rule out price ma- clear. My belief is that they Lusk said. “Animals are dif-
began focusing on ways to nipulation, but you don’t need weren’t necessarily as well ferent shapes and sizes. It’s
sure up the vulnerabilities anti-competitive behavior to off. They may not have been not like cars.”
COVID-19 outlined in the see these price spreads widen harmed as much as cattle Leaving on a silver lining,
nation’s meat processing and like this,” he said. “Basic eco- producers.” Lusk said that he expects
packing industries. While his nomic forces would force this Throughout all the disrup- many barriers to entry for the
team at Purdue fielded calls to happen if there was a dis- tion in the traditional beef packing industry may be elim-
from many consumers, report- ruption like we had in the market, data showed that the inated in the coming years to
ers, and farmers about why processing sector.” plant-based protein market allow more small processors
the industry is setup the way In the simplest terms, as remained fairly steady. The to take hold in their markets.
it is, Lusk said understanding packers’ processing capaci- industry met growth projec- journalstar.com
that farmers cannot simply ty fell, demand for cattle fell tions, and there was no over-

HOUSE DEMOCRATS BLOCK USDA FUNDING

Rep. K. Michael Conaway "Under the Democrats' need and hope it
(R-TX), Ranking Member of plan, which fails to replenish garners the bi-
the House Agriculture Com- USDA funds in a timely fash- partisan support
mittee, issued the following ion, commodity, conservation, it deserves.
statement concerning the and trade promotion pay- "Our nation's
House Democrats' Continu- ments required by the Farm farmers, ranch-
ing Resolution (CR) that Bill beginning in October can- ers, and dairy
maintains funding for all of not be paid. If House Demo- producers and
the U.S. government but de- crats get their way, there will rural America are
funds the U.S. Department of be no Price Loss Coverage, struggling and
Agriculture's (USDA) ability Agriculture Risk Coverage, in critical need
to carry out critical Farm Bill Marketing Loan Assistance, of help but the
programs or further COVID- sugar or dairy program bene- House Democrats
19 economic relief: fits, or livestock disaster pro- have once again
"Today, the House Demo- gram assistance. And House thumbed their
cratic majority produced a CR Democrats also tie USDA's noses at Ameri-
that funds all facets of gov- hands in providing any fur- ca's heartland."
ernment but denies funding ther COVID-19 relief. House
to critical Farm Bill programs "Today, I offered an amend- Committee on
and USDA efforts to provide ment to fully restore USDA Agriculture
ongoing COVID-19 relief to funding so farmers, ranchers,
America's farmers, ranchers, dairy producers, and rural
and dairy producers. America gets the help they Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)