The current COVID-19 situation has temporarily changed a great deal about our daily lives. For many farm and ranch families, it means the son or daughter that had been going to high school or college is now at home and helping with the chores. Why not take advantage of the technology skills these young people could bring to the operation?

The novel coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the cattle market has been dramatic already. But that’s not the only threat to ranchers’ livelihood, according to Scott Williamson.

As cattle producers continue to seek ways to add value to their operations, recent research from Kansas State University looks at a variety of factors influencing the sale price of beef calf lots.

The cattle and beef industry, along with the rest of the U.S. and global economy, is in uncharted waters with the coronavirus pandemic. There are many unknowns about the timing, severity and aftermath of the disease.

Beef exports posted more modest growth in January, increasing 2.5% from a year ago in volume (107,374 metric tons [MT]) and 5% in value ($672.7 million). But beef muscle cut exports were the highest ever for the month of January at 81,342 MT, up 4% from a year ago, while muscle cut value increased 5% to $589.2 million.

When it's time to buy a bull, ranchers prefer a one-on-one approach, according to a recent Progressive Cattle online poll.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include additional information. The novel coronavirus, recently renamed COVID-19, has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. A pandemic is defined as an epidemic that has spread to multiple countries and continents.

Those TV shows about vets make it look easy. Doc gets a call about a calf that needs to be pulled, and he or she speeds over to the farm in a jiffy. There, things are set up nicely for a few quick turns inside the cow, and the calf comes out nicely. It doesn’t work like that in real life.

Wholesale beef prices typically increase seasonally from February into March but have showed only scant improvement from the February low three weeks ago.