# Coronavirus outbreak causes cattle, beef prices to diverge | Capital Press

> Capital Press reports cattle producers and lawmakers are pressing the administration to expand its investigation into the gap between rising retail beef prices and falling cattle prices during the coronavirus outbreak. Oklahoma State economist Derrell Peel says the spread reflects extra processing and shipping costs and that the four largest packers, which control over 80% of slaughter, have historically been found not to unduly influence cattle prices.

- Date: 2020-05-04 · published 2020-05-04T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: policy · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/53086-coronavirus-outbreak-causes-cattle-beef-prices-to-diverge-capital-press
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

Calls for packer restructuring and investigation add uncertainty to fed cattle bids, while the wide cattle-to-beef spread signals continued pressure on cattle prices.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: bearish ▼
- LCATTLE: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2025-10-28 | [Cattle Futures Sink After Trump Vows to Cut High US Beef Prices - Bloomberg](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6335-cattle-futures-sink-after-trump-vows-to-cut-high-us-beef-prices-bloomberg.md) | -0.8% | -9.0% |
| LCATTLE | 2025-11-01 | [Cattle Crash on Trump’s Plan to Lower Beef Prices: Row Crops Rally](https://feedsoft.ai/events/22525-cattle-crash-on-trump-s-plan-to-lower-beef-prices-row-crops-rally.md) | -4.7% | -10.3% |
| LCATTLE | 2026-08-31 | [Cattle futures dip on Trump processing order plans - CME
						 \| The Beef Site](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18033-cattle-futures-dip-on-trump-processing-order-plans-cme-the-beef-site.md) | -2.7% | -0.8% |
| LCATTLE | 2025-11-14 | [Did the Administration's Plan to Lower Beef Prices Wreck the Bull Run in the Cattle Market? - Drovers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6067-did-the-administration-s-plan-to-lower-beef-prices-wreck-the-bull-run-in-the.md) | -1.8% | +0.7% |
| LCATTLE | 2026-09-02 | [Cattle markets fall on Trump beef import plan](https://feedsoft.ai/events/17628-cattle-markets-fall-on-trump-beef-import-plan.md) | +1.1% | +1.5% |
| FCATTLE | 2025-10-28 | [Cattle Futures Sink After Trump Vows to Cut High US Beef Prices - Bloomberg](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6335-cattle-futures-sink-after-trump-vows-to-cut-high-us-beef-prices-bloomberg.md) | -0.8% | -11.7% |
| FCATTLE | 2025-11-01 | [Cattle Crash on Trump’s Plan to Lower Beef Prices: Row Crops Rally](https://feedsoft.ai/events/22525-cattle-crash-on-trump-s-plan-to-lower-beef-prices-row-crops-rally.md) | -3.7% | -5.3% |
| FCATTLE | 2026-08-31 | [Cattle futures dip on Trump processing order plans - CME
						 \| The Beef Site](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18033-cattle-futures-dip-on-trump-processing-order-plans-cme-the-beef-site.md) | +1.2% | +3.4% |

## Sources

- capitalpress.com: https://capitalpress.com/2020/05/04/coronavirus-outbreak-causes-cattle-beef-prices-to-diverge/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.