Demand For Red Meat Slowing

Mar 03, 2020

The beef sector started 2020 off with strong demand for red meat internationally - especially in China as a result of African swine fever.

That demand slowed as Chinese workers at the ports stayed home over coronovirus fears.

Brian Perillat, senior analyst with Canfax, talked about the current market situation here at home.

"People with cattle on feed, they're in a pinch. If we look in Alberta, since coronavirus, over the last month, we've seen fat cattle values drop $150, almost $200 a head."

He says feedlots were finally starting to make a little money but now we’re seeing pressure on the feeder market as well.

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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.