When the COVID-19 pandemic first ignited a global shutdown earlier this year, U.S. ranchers experienced a livestock backlog of monumental proportions. As global trade stalled to mitigate spread of the virus, consolidation of slaughterhouses exacerbated production bottlenecks as virus hotspots emerged within our nation’s major meat processing plants.

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.

There are many factors that go into running a profitable farming operation. In an industry that faces several influencing factors such as new technology, government regulations, climate change, commodity pricing and tariffs, the potential impact on your operation’s bottom line is high.