Cattle producers are feeling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as prices fall at auction and in futures contracts.

Not only is the pandemic having a financial impact on cattle producers, it is also challenging the beef supply chain, Colin Woodall, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO, said in the “Beltway Beef” podcast on Friday.

NCBA is coordinating and talking with all segments of the supply chain to keep beef moving, he said.

“We all need to understand we need to keep beef moving throughout the chain in order to make sure this market situation is not any worse than it currently is,” he said.

Right now, there aren’t any issues with packing plants scaling back or inspections by USDA. Things are moving forward, he said.

“But we also know that this is a very fluid situation,” he said.

Almost every day brings something new. That’s why he said NCBA needs to maintain contact with all the segments of the supply chain to stay apprised of what’s happening — and if changes need to be made, NCBA can be part of that discussion to ensure beef continues to be on the shelves.

“This is a high priority for NCBA, and we are working with the government, working with the supply chain, working with Congress to ensure that we keep beef moving,” he said.

As for the impact on cattle markets, there’s still a lot of clarity to be obtained in the next few weeks if not the next 30 to 45 days, Kevin Good, CattleFAX vice president, said.

“We need to get confidence back in the markets, not only in the cattle but obviously in the financials and across the board,” he said.

Live cattle futures continued to freefall this past week. Cattle prices have followed suit and have been soft the last couple of weeks. Price levels now are pretty tough for yearling and cow-calf operators.

“There’s no doubt about it, we’re at or below breakevens in some of those categories,” he said.

The industry has done an adequate job at harvesting cattle year to date. Product has moved exceptionally well, and demand has been extremely strong, he said.

“But unfortunately, the markets are building in a lot of uncertainty. They’re building in a lot of softer-type demand levels than we would expect to see,” he said.

The key is to get down the road a few weeks and let markets become a little more sure of when the coronavirus outbreak will be contained and when commerce and travel are expected to be more normal, he said.

The market should then recover to some degree. Hopefully, he said, that’s a shorter term duration rather than longer term. Each week, each month of uncertainty will bring some demand and economic disruption.

“Hopefully, within a few weeks, we’ll have a better grasp as far as a timetable where we get back to more of a normalcy,” he said.