Much has changed since my last blog (April 7, 2020), which focused on how COVID-19 had impacted cattle producers in California. At that time, widespread processing plant slowdowns and closures hadn't even been conceived and consumer purchasing patterns, driven by shelter-in-place orders, were the primary driver of wholesale and retail price increases for beef. In the intervening period, processing plant slowdowns and temporary shutdowns created a substantial bottleneck and market-wide impacts that reverberated throughout the supply chain. 

Among the myriad of concerns surrounding the global COVID-19 pandemic is unease about the performance of the U.S. food supply chain. The recent pricing patterns and market dynamics observed in the beef industry have stimulated a lot of concern and discussion about what the future holds. In this blog I discuss the short-term demand impacts and how these changes have influenced beef prices, as well as a variety of factors that are likely to impact the supply side of the beef market. Many researchers and analysts have been considering these topics from a variety of angles. I endeavor here to …