Colorado Beef Industry Impacted by Covid-19

Colorado Beef Industry Impacted by Covid-19

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett

The Colorado beef industry is looking at the potential long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

The Greeley JBS packing plant shut down due to an outbreak of Covid-19. Beef industry leaders say workers’ health is priority.

They must also ensure that all beef production sectors from the cow/calf producer to the processing plant can continue.

Terry Frankhauser: Two weeks we can probably bear especially with just one plant. You get beyond that and you start to see some fundamental economic impacts starting to play themselves out. They get very dire, very quickly. They compound repeatedly. That’s the other reason why we’re focused so much on trying to find a national approach of prevention and recovery when it comes to processing plants because we can’t start to see the failure of these plants to stay open becoming a domino effect across the country.

Terry Frankhauser is Executive VP of the Colorado Cattlemens’ Association. He says closures lasting more than 2 weeks could impact the value and condition of those animals as well as the commodities and futures markets. He says there isn’t anywhere to take the beef when packing plants aren’t available. We produce and consume a lot of beef domestically and worldwide and the closure of more processing plants would begin to severely impact the price of cattle and the larger supply chain.

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