USCA Releases
Estimate on Economic Impact of COVID-19 to U.S. Cattle Industry
(WASHINGTON) -
On Friday, the United States Cattlemen's Association (USCA) released
its full economic impact report of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S.
cattle industry, compiled by Brett Crosby of Custom Ag Solutions and BeefBasis.com.
Using existing market data and futures market data, the
total actual and future impact is forecast to exceed $14.6 billion. The
analysis focuses on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to
three primary sectors of the cattle production chain: feedlot, backgrounding,
and cow/calf.
USCA President Brooke Miller issued
the following statement:
"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. cattle
industry cannot be overstated. This report highlights just how
severe those losses will be. Specifically, Mr. Crosby's report breaks out
the steer and heifer price forecasts, differentiates between spring
and fall calves, and values stocker calves by marketing date rather than
weight to account for the effect on operations that run grass calves
and market in August.
"Further, the report offers recommendations for funding
distribution models. For cow/calf producers, it suggests an average
per-cow funding basis for cow/calf producers of $127.08 broken out by
spring and fall calving cows and accounting for heifer
retention. For stockers and backgrounders, the breakout would be on
a per-head basis, regardless of sale weight. The breakout between
spring and summer calves can be based on sales receipts, with June 1 as
the date determining marketing class. Feedlot sector payouts would then
be based on actual receipts and/or feed receipts.
"All payments would be based on the inventory each
operation had as of February 15, and verification could include: sales receipts; balance
sheets submitted to banks; inventory appraisals by certified appraisers
or lenders; brand inspections; and vet records.
"USCA's COVID-19 Producer Task Force has spent the past
month diligently working with Congress and the Administration on
developing temporary, short-term relief for cattle producers experiencing
losses related to the current coronavirus outbreak. We'd like to thank
these volunteer members for their time and efforts in improving the state
of the U.S. cattle industry."