Cattle industry losses expected to quickly outpace federal aid

American livestock producers will receive the lion's share of the $19 billion federal Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, with $5.1 billion earmarked for American cattle producers. But with cattle industry losses expected to surpass $13.6 billion, according to new research from Oklahoma State University, industry leaders fear the aid will not be enough to save struggling ranchers. "The bottom line is there will be guys in cow-calf production that at this point probably will not be able to cover their production costs," said Derrell Peel, a professor of agribusiness and an Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, who lead the study. Live cattle prices have fallen some 30 percent since January, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, to about 85 cents a pound from $1.20. Now, ranchers face yet another complication -- packing plants have been closing because workers contracted the coronavirus...Petrik added that the coronavirus aid will be welcomed by ranchers, but that it won't make up for all the losses. Details of how the program will be implemented are scant, but according to U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, ranchers might be compensated for 85 percent of their price loss between Jan. 1 and April 15. They also might be able to claim 30 percent of their expected losses over the next six months. Payments to producers will be capped at $125,000 per commodity, with an overall limit of $250,000 per individual or entity. The payments are expected to begin arriving in late May or early June, Hoeven said...MORE