# Cattle industry feels effects of COVID-19 pandemic

> COVID-19 uncertainty and rapid financial market swings have hit the beef cattle sector, with live cattle contracts losing about 25 percent of their value between mid-January and late March. Panic buying has drained supply chains and created a false sense of increased demand, according to University of Arkansas extension experts.

- Date: 2020-03-31 · published 2020-03-31T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/6442-cattle-industry-feels-effects-of-covid-19-pandemic
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

Cattle futures have been tracking broader financial market losses rather than fundamentals, so feeder and fed cattle prices are exposed to macro sell-offs. Feed buyers should expect continued price volatility while demand signals remain distorted.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: bearish ▼
- LCATTLE: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2020-04-30 | [Estimating COVID-19 effects on the cattle markets - Progressive Cattle \| Ag Proud](https://feedsoft.ai/events/53773-estimating-covid-19-effects-on-the-cattle-markets-progressive-cattle-ag-proud.md) | +3.2% | +19.4% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-01-01 | [Cattle market shaken by COVID-19](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55236-cattle-market-shaken-by-covid-19.md) | +1.5% | -0.4% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-03-31 | [Pandemic Injects Volatility into Cattle and Beef Markets \| Farm Bureau Intel Markets \| American Farm Bureau Federation](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6288-pandemic-injects-volatility-into-cattle-and-beef-markets-farm-bureau-intel.md) | -11.3% | -16.4% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-04-02 | [CME update: cattle futures dive on coronavirus pandemic
						 \| The Cattle Site](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6287-cme-update-cattle-futures-dive-on-coronavirus-pandemic-the-cattle-site.md) | -5.8% | -13.4% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-04-21 | [COVID-19 infects nearly all commodity prices \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6503-covid-19-infects-nearly-all-commodity-prices-capital-press.md) | -7.4% | +7.7% |
| FCATTLE | 2020-04-30 | [Estimating COVID-19 effects on the cattle markets - Progressive Cattle \| Ag Proud](https://feedsoft.ai/events/53773-estimating-covid-19-effects-on-the-cattle-markets-progressive-cattle-ag-proud.md) | +3.8% | +13.3% |
| FCATTLE | 2020-03-31 | [Pandemic Injects Volatility into Cattle and Beef Markets \| Farm Bureau Intel Markets \| American Farm Bureau Federation](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6288-pandemic-injects-volatility-into-cattle-and-beef-markets-farm-bureau-intel.md) | -8.0% | -0.4% |
| FCATTLE | 2020-04-02 | [CME update: cattle futures dive on coronavirus pandemic
						 \| The Cattle Site](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6287-cme-update-cattle-futures-dive-on-coronavirus-pandemic-the-cattle-site.md) | +2.1% | +1.5% |

## Sources

- uaex.uada.edu: https://uaex.uada.edu/media-resources/news/2020/March2020/03-31-2020-Ark-cattle-market-COVID-19.aspx

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