Jake Billington has worked at the livestock auction at the Twin Falls Livestock Commission in southern Idaho for 28 years.
鈥淓ver since I was old enough to walk and talk, I鈥檝e been around it and been in it, been doing something around there,鈥� Billington said.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, livestock auctions like his are staying open to help maintain the food supply chain. They鈥檙e considered essential like hospitals and groceries stories and gas stations.
That doesn鈥檛 mean these auctions will keep operating like normal. In rural communities they鈥檙e often social gathering places, but now many have limits. Sellers are asked to just drop off cows and leave. And as for spectators, 鈥淲e have limited it down to just serious buyers only. You know, one person per family,鈥� Billington said.
These measures are being taken across the industry, according to Chelsea Good, vice president of government and industry affairs for the Livestock Marketing Association. The trade group is encouraging these precautions, but it鈥檚 also working to keep the beef moving.
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked with both our federal officials, but then also our states and local communities to help get them that critical food supply designation and allow them to continue operating in this important time,鈥� Good said.
These auctions are vital to rural communities nationwide, Good said. And while some ranchers might be able to market cows online, she said it鈥檚 important to have multiple bidders in the room. That鈥檚 what drives prices up so ranchers can make a profit.
鈥淐andidly, that鈥檚 what livestock auctions are all about. We鈥檝e got an auctioneer, we鈥檝e got a competition and bidding, we鈥檙e working for that producer,鈥� she said.
And some of those producers could use a boost right now. The pandemic has created a lot of market uncertainty. Prices for things like bulk burger you鈥檇 buy at Costco made historic gains as people rushed to the store to stock up. But other types of meat have taken a hit.
鈥淏eef primarily is a product you consume a lot of in restaurants, and given that a lot of restaurants are shut down, that certainly dims the outlook for demand for those products,鈥� said Eric Belasco, an associate professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University.
He said beef can also be a bellwether for the economy overall.
鈥淲hen we鈥檙e in a recession, we see reduced demand for those products,鈥� Belasco said. 鈥淪o if you look at the futures market, look at the longer-term projections on prices, those are also going down.鈥�
Beyond markets, the supply chain could face another challenge: meat-packing plants. The facilities that turn a cow into burger or steaks have been consolidated over the years. There are fewer of them, and they handle a lot more meat. There are also a lot more people in a single facility who can get sick and pass illnesses like COVID-19 along to other workers and potentially shutter a plant.
鈥淚t is critical that we keep those isolated from any outbreak,鈥� Belasco said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge area of uncertainty because you can imagine some of the larger packing plants, if they were to shut down, you鈥檇 see a remarkable impact on the market for beef.鈥�
If a packing plant closes, a lot of meat can鈥檛 be bought and processed. And that hurts everybody, from ranchers to auction houses to distributors to consumers. If big ones close, 鈥渢hen we would see prices increase,鈥� Belasco said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 also see a lower supply. So we might see less beef on the shelves and we would see it at a higher price.鈥�
Packing plants have reported some cases of COVID-19 and some workers sent home.
But the good news is, federal inspectors will still be around inspecting the meat. And according to the CDC, there has been no evidence that food or food packaging can pass along the virus. Find reporter Madelyn Beck on Twitter
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