US cattle industry is facing huge losses
Cattle breeders in the US are facing terrible losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic impact is estimated at $13.6 billion, according to a recent study commissioned by NCBA and conducted by a team of industry-leading agricultural economists from Oklahoma State University.
Cow-calf producers will endure the worst hit, $3.7 billion, or $111.91 per head for each mature breeding animal in the United States and if the federal government doesn't act to provide relief funds those losses could increase by $135.24 per mature breeding animal, for an additional impact totaling $4.45 billion in the coming years.
Stocker/backgrounder segment losses were estimated at $159.98 per head, for a total economic impact of $2.5 billion in 2020, while feeding sector losses were estimated at $3.0 billion or $205.96 per head.
This study confirms that cattle producers have suffered massive economic damage as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and those losses will continue to mount for years to come, driving many producers to the brink of collapse and beyond if relief funds aren’t made available soon,” confirmed NCBA CEO Colin Woodall for Drovers magazine.
The study is based on data collected at the beginning of April. Since then, the situation in the US market got worse, which means that additional damages are likely.
An overview of the sector shows that over 80 million head of the 94.4 million cattle in the US on January 1, 2020, are involved in beef production. The US beef cattle industry had $77.2 billion in sales in 2017. Cattle are found on 882,692 farms, including 729,046 farms with beef cows.
It is not only the cattle industry that is hurt by the coronavirus pandemic in the US. As COVID-19 sweeps through the country's labor forces at meat processing facilities, production of beef, pork and poultry are simultaneously threatened.
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