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Dear Dairy Industry,
On a recent dairy industry conference call, Dr. David Kohl, part owner of Homestead Creamery in Wirtz, Virginia, and professor emeritus at Virginia Tech, said something that really struck a chord for our organizations: “Don’t equate your self-worth to your net worth.”
When people all over the world found themselves facing a deadly virus, stay home measures, supply-chain disruptions and economic crises, something else started to spread – signs of kindness and hope.
Estimating the total economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the beef industry requires a number of assumptions based on imperfect information. As a result, any economic impact forecast has a wide confidence interval which can only narrow as the pandemic abates and post-quarantine economic data become available.
In March, the COVID-19 pandemic-affected industries (including the ag industy), businesses and millions of people across the U.S. As fear and panic shopping set in among consumers with the uncertainty of the duration of the virus and social distancing and stay-at-home orders in place across multiples states, the food supply chain was beginning to shake with demand for food exceeding supply.
As I write this article, the COVID-19 news is marginally better. The curves are flattening, and people are starting to whisper about life beyond COVID-19.
Before a nation troubled with an impending pandemic, headlines of fake meat and climate-killing “cow farts” circulated the internet. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer sat neatly on store shelves, and basketball fans were eager to fill out this year’s bracket.
Falling cattle prices and both market and consumer unrest has increased the pressure from beef industry groups and lawmakers on the USDA to increase their investigations into the cattle markets.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has unveiled the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), designed to take several actions to assist farmers and ranchers and consumers in response to the COVID-19 national emergency.
