KEY POINTS

  • Corn, wheat are prices falling
  • Cattle producers are not seeing profit
  • Cornavirus affecting market

While consumers around the country may want beef, corn and grain products, the people in Kansas and elsewhere who deal in agriculture as a business are struggling with how coronavirus will affect them.
With the demand for their products increasing, traditional economics indicates prices should rise too. Uncertainty about the coronavirus tanked beef prices across the US, KWCH reported.
One cattleman told the station the future is uncertain. Shawn Tiffany said decisions about caring for and feeding cattle weigh into his decision about when to sell.
"There's going to be a lot of agriculture professionals that are no longer in business because of the financial hit that this brings about," he told the station.
The Department of Agriculture cattle futures reported large steers, those 953- - 947-pounds, are trading at $116.61 per pound Friday. Small steers, 368- - 374-pounds trade at $190.91 per pound. Heifers and steers are both selling at about 10% higher than last week, according to USDA.
If farmers opt to sell their small, i.e., young, stock, they can avoid operational costs today, but what will you eat next year?
Feeder Cattle Futures opened Friday seeking bids of $121.57. The price has been in a tailspin this month.
The grain front looks better in Kansas. Grain futures opened at $7,615, which is also down for the month. Wheat traded last week to $4.44 down 14-cents per bushel. Yellow corn is steady at $3.39 per bushel, soybeans lost 2 cents to $7.85 per bushel. No. 2 Sorghum's median price is unchanged at $5.61 per bushel. These are median prices reported by USDA.

Coronavirus