The pandemic, caused by Coronavirus outbreak, is about to stop the (long-lasting) positive trend livestock and farming industry had been enjoying. According to current estimates, provided by USDA (the United States Department of Agriculture), Covid-19 is due to slow down, throughout 2020, the red meat worldwide market: by the end of the year, the overall trade, which amounts to about 61.5 million tons, will have dropped by 2% on annual basis.
Red meat global market slows down
According to previous forecast, issued in January, USDA were expecting, instead, the developing trend of livestock and farming industry to get firmer in 2020. Conversely, owing to the pandemic effects on the habits and attitudes of final buyers, USDA believe that trade will turn out to be 8% lower compared to former estimates. For the records, they expect production volumes to decrease not only in Australia (where they were planning to fill again livestock farming), but also in the USA, Brazil and China.
US farmers call for help
In the meantime, in the USA they appeal for public support. As reported by CNN, US farmers asked the government to allocate financial funds in order to buy as much meat as possible, considering the current weakness of the market. Farming associations rely on 9.5 billion dollars, budgeted by US Congress for the agricultural industry within the Stimulus Bill, a set of measures implemented in favour of businesses facing crisis. The closure of a few slaughterhouses, along with the overall economic slowdown, have been causing some difficulties across the manufacturing industry, not only affecting pig farmers, to begin with, but also hitting cattle breeding. The economic impact, recapped the National Beef Cattle Association, is going to bring about both missed income and higher costs related to live cattle management.
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