Coronavirus Impacting Ag Markets

Jan 28, 2020

The ag markets are feeling the impact of the coronavirus.

Tyler Fulton is the Director of Risk Management with Hams Marketing Services.

"Just wide-spread weakness across a lot of financial markets and ag markets, kind of in response to the uncertainty related to the coronavirus," he said. "There's a lot of concern as to how that can impact demand and whether or not it's possible that it could trigger a recession in places if it becomes very wide spread."

Fulton says forward hog contract prices showed serious weakness to open the week.

He notes U.S. cash markets are still struggling after the heavy hog supply that came in during November and December. Fulton adds cash prices focus more on the nuts and bolts and are not impacted as much by speculation.

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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.