Amid COVID-19 Fueled Market Uncertainty Consider Forward Pricing

The Director of Risk Management with HAMS Marketing Services says, amid the market uncertainty being created by COVID-19, forward pricing is an option to consider. Market disruptions resulting from the turmoil surrounding COVID-19 and uncertainty over the ability to move pork into those regions where pork prices have been highest and pork supplies have been limited have been the biggest factor influencing North American live hog prices.

 

Tyler Fulton, the Director of Risk Management with HAMS Marketing Services, says producers need to remain disciplined.

 

 

It's a new reality that we find ourselves in and I think that producers should probably lower their expectations and simply take some of that risk off the table for some of the time frames that they don't yet have priced.

 

I'm not saying you should do a large percentage of your planned production but into the third and fourth quarter of  this year, when we expect that hog supplies are still going to be large and we might start seeing some constraints with respect to the processing capacity on those animals, it might start to make some sense to price in 25 percent of your production.

 

Maybe not at absolutely current prices but marginal improvements, something in the neighbourhood of around a 10 to 15 dollar appreciation, so 10 to 15 dollars higher than current prices for the fourth quarter per CKG.

 

That's a relatively modest recovery to start actually getting some greater protection just simply to take some risk off the table. Even if there's not profits to be had there, at least there's some ideas that the losses won't be catastrophic.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.