Current Cattle Market Daily Headlines – Monday, May 11, 2020

Mackenzie Johnston

6 years ago

Bottleneck eases, wholesale beef marches higher

Last week ended with an estimated cattle slaughter of 452,000 head, a 6% increase from the week before. The same week a year ago, slaughter was at 667,000. So far this year, slaughter is 5.8% lower than 2019.

On Saturday, President Trump announced that the federal government will be purchasing $3 billion of food from farmers. The buying will begin early this week.
These purchases will include dairy, meat, and produce that will be given to food lines and kitchens.
Many Americans are bracing for a food shortage. Some analysts are saying that meat prices could jump 20%.
In certain parts of our country, consumers are finding it hard to find meat in the grocery stores. So far we have seen Wendy’s temporarily stop offering some of its fast-food menu items, Costco has capped meat purchases at three items, and Krogers has also set in place a similar policy.

Senator Elizabeth Warren announced last week that she will be co-sponsoring Senator Cory Booker’s bill to phase out large-scale factory farming by 2040.
The Farm System Reform Act would prohibit new large factory farms from going into business and forces others to cease expansions before halting operations entirely within two decades.
Senator Warren’s support for the law stems from reports of unsafe conditions in the meatpacking industry that have arose due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
If passed, the law would place an immediate moratorium on new large factory farms (aka concentrated feeding operations, CAFOs.)
The law would also enforce MCOOL on beef, pork, and dairy products, while prohibiting the USDA from labeling any imported meat as “Product of USA.”