South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association President Eric Jennings won’t forget the recent black swan events impacting cattle producers. “We came up to a high supply of cattle in January 2020, this was peak supply. At that point, we barely had enough packing capacity. Then, COVID-19 hit and it slowed up the plants, backing up cattle. We’ve been trying to eat through the supply,” says Jennings. “There’s tremendous demand for retail beef and plenty of cattle available, but we don’t have the capacity to get them through. I think that’s a lot of the market right now. Packers don’t have to bid much for cattle, because there are so many available. It’s frustrating when they’re making so much money.” Jennings was part of a panel discussion at Dakotafest on Tuesday.
