IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/canjag/v69y2021i2p233-241.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID‐19 and the Canadian cattle/beef sector: A second look

Author

Listed:
  • James Rude

Abstract

After a year of adjusting to the shocks associated with COVID‐19 the Canadian cattle and beef sector faces a relatively optimistic future. This note examines the past year for this supply chain from the perspective of the consumer up to the cow‐calf producer by considering consumer reactions, labor market constraints, and supply responses. In the second quarter of 2020, the sector faced a significant challenge with continent wide shutdowns of beef packers reducing the U.S. beef supply by one‐third and Canadian beef slaughter by almost 60%. These shutdowns resulted in a sharp divergence between wholesale beef prices, which more than doubled, and fed steer prices, which declined by one third. Despite these dramatic shocks, the sector has returned to near normal conditions with prices and production levels similar to those observed prior to the pandemic. The near term prospects for 2021 are very similar to the current market situation. Après une année d'adaptation aux chocs associés à la COVID‐19, le secteur bovin canadien fait face à l'avenir avec un relatif optimiste. Cette note examine l'année écoulée pour cette chaîne d'approvisionnement du point de vue du consommateur jusqu'au producteur de vache‐veau en tenant compte des réactions des consommateurs, des contraintes du marché du travail et des réponses de l'offre. Au deuxième trimestre de 2020, le secteur a été confronté à un défi de taille avec les fermetures à l'échelle du continent des abattoirs de bœuf, réduisant l'offre de bœuf aux États‐Unis d'un tiers et l'abattage de bœuf canadien de presque 60%. Ces fermetures ont entraîné une forte divergence entre les prix de gros de la viande bovine, qui ont plus que doublé, et les prix à la ferme, qui ont diminué d'un tiers. Malgré ces chocs dramatiques, le secteur est revenu à des conditions quasi normales avec des prix et des niveaux de production similaires à ceux observés avant la pandémie. Les perspectives à court terme pour 2021 sont très similaires à la situation actuelle du marché. Mots clés: COVID‐19, chaîne d'approvisionnement en viande bovine.

Suggested Citation

  • James Rude, 2021. "COVID‐19 and the Canadian cattle/beef sector: A second look," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(2), pages 233-241, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:69:y:2021:i:2:p:233-241
    DOI: 10.1111/cjag.12277
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12277
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/cjag.12277?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Azzeddine M. Azzam, 1998. "Competition in the US meatpacking industry: is it history?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 18(2), pages 107-126, March.
    2. Jayson L. Lusk & Glynn T. Tonsor & Lee L. Schulz, 2021. "Beef and Pork Marketing Margins and Price Spreads during COVID‐19," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 4-23, March.
    3. Charles C. Martinez & Joshua G. Maples & Justin Benavidez, 2021. "Beef Cattle Markets and COVID‐19," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 304-314, March.
    4. Jill E. Hobbs, 2020. "Food supply chains during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 171-176, June.
    5. Alan P. Ker & Ryan Cardwell, 2020. "Introduction to the special issue on COVID‐19 and the Canadian agriculture and food sectors: Thoughts from the pandemic onset," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 139-142, June.
    6. Mindy L. Mallory, 2021. "Impact of COVID‐19 on Medium‐Term Export Prospects for Soybeans, Corn, Beef, Pork, and Poultry," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 292-303, March.
    7. Azzam, Azzeddine M., 1998. "Competition in the US meatpacking industry: is it history?," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 107-126, March.
    8. Ellen Goddard, 2020. "The impact of COVID‐19 on food retail and food service in Canada: Preliminary assessment," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 157-161, June.
    9. Ward, Clement E., 2010. "Assessing Competition in the U.S. Beef Packing Industry," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 25(2), pages 1-14.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rochelle Thompson & Briana N. M. Hagen & Margaret N. Lumley & Charlotte B. Winder & Basem Gohar & Andria Jones-Bitton, 2022. "Mental Health and Substance Use of Farmers in Canada during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Sembiring, Surya Abadi & Tampubolon, Jongkers, . "Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Indonesia’s agricultural subsectors: an ARDL approach," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 10(3).
    3. Azzam, Azzeddine & Gren, Ing-Marie & Andersson, Hans, 2023. "Comparative resilience of US and EU meat processing to the Covid19 pandemic," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:ags:aaea22:341195 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Bolotova, Yuliya V., 2021. "An Empirical Analysis of Pricing in the U.S. Beef Industry," 2021 Annual Meeting (Virtual), February 6-9, 2021 319359, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    3. A. Ford Ramsey & Barry K. Goodwin & William F. Hahn & Matthew T. Holt, 2021. "Impacts of COVID‐19 and Price Transmission in U.S. Meat Markets," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(3), pages 441-458, May.
    4. Jill E. Hobbs, 2021. "Food supply chain resilience and the COVID‐19 pandemic: What have we learned?," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(2), pages 189-196, June.
    5. Dimitrios Panagiotou & Athanassios Stavrakoudis, 2018. "A stochastic frontier estimator of the aggregate degree of market power exerted by the US meat packing industry," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 45(3), pages 387-401, September.
    6. Stavrakoudis, Athanassios & Panagiotou, Dimitrios, 2016. "A stochastic frontier estimator of the aggregate degree of market power exerted by the U.S. beef and pork packing industries," MPRA Paper 75997, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Perekhozhuk, Oleksandr & Grings, Michael, 2007. "Econometric Analysis Of Market Power On The Ukrainian Market For Raw Milk," 47th Annual Conference, Weihenstephan, Germany, September 26-28, 2007 7575, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    8. Margherita Bernabei & Silvia Colabianchi & Francesco Costantino, 2022. "Actions and Strategies for Coronavirus to Ensure Supply Chain Resilience: A Systemic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-19, October.
    9. Christopher C. Pudenz & Lee L. Schulz, 2024. "Multi‐plant coordination in the U.S. beef packing industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(1), pages 382-415, January.
    10. Ahn, Soojung & Steinbach, Sandro, 2022. "COVID-19 Trade Actions and Their Impact on the Agricultural and Food Sector," 2023 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 6-8, 2023, New Orleans, Louisiana 316789, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Khan, Syed Abdul Rehman & Razzaq, Asif & Yu, Zhang & Shah, Adeel & Sharif, Arshian & Janjua, Laeeq, 2022. "Disruption in food supply chain and undernourishment challenges: An empirical study in the context of Asian countries," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    12. Oleksandr Perekhozhuk, 2013. "Modern Concepts for Pricing Analysis in Imperfect Competition Production Factor Market," Oblik i finansi, Institute of Accounting and Finance, issue 4, pages 99-106, December.
    13. Ramsey, Austin F. & Goodwin, Barry K., 2024. "A Different 'Law of One Price:' Missouri's Livestock Marketing Law of 1999," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343679, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Patrick Mundler, 2020. "Nourrir, produire, protéger les personnes et les ressources - Les voies d’une transition agroécologique du système bioalimentaire québécois," CIRANO Project Reports 2020rp-32, CIRANO.
    15. Panagiotou, Dimitrios, 2017. "What does the stochastic frontier estimator of market power really account for? A theoretical analysis with references from the food industry," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 0(Issue 2), July.
    16. Doan, Darcie & Goldstein, Andrew & Zahniser, Steven & Vollrath, Tom & Bolling, Chris, 2005. "North American Integration in Agriculture: A Survey," 2004 NAAMIC Workshop I: North American Agrifood Market Integration: Current Situation and Perspectives 163851, North American Agrifood Market Integration Consortium (NAAMIC).
    17. Bianca Polenzani & Andrea Marchini, 2022. "Does the Covid-19 affect food consumption patterns? A Transaction Cost Perspective," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 24(2), pages 1-28.
    18. Weersink, Alfons & von Massow, Mike & Bannon, Nicholas & Ifft, Jennifer & Maples, Josh & McEwan, Ken & McKendree, Melissa G.S. & Nicholson, Charles & Novakovic, Andrew & Rangarajan, Anusuya & Richards, 2021. "COVID-19 and the agri-food system in the United States and Canada," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    19. Lynn Hunnicutt & DeeVon Bailey & Michelle Crook, 2002. "Measuring Market Power with Variables Other than Price," Working Papers 2002-08, Utah State University, Department of Economics.
    20. Perekhozhuk, Oleksandr & Grings, Michael & Glauben, Thomas, "undated". "Oligopsony Power in the Ukrainian Milk Processing Industry: Evidence from the Regional Markets for Raw Milk," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 50965, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    21. Ali, Imran & Arslan, Ahmad & Chowdhury, Maruf & Khan, Zaheer & Tarba, Shlomo Y., 2022. "Reimagining global food value chains through effective resilience to COVID-19 shocks and similar future events: A dynamic capability perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1-12.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:69:y:2021:i:2:p:233-241. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/caefmea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.