Dairy Industry on Brink Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Dairy producers across the U.S. were already battling lean conditions before two of their biggest markets dried up in a matter of days. University of Missouri livestock economist Scott Brown says with schools and most restaurants closed because of social distancing efforts, a hopeful year for America’s dairy farmers is now uncertain.

However, Brown says he remains optimistic that the pandemic will soon pass and business will pick back up.

In the two months since the coronavirus outbreak was first confirmed in China, Class Three Milk futures fell 26 percent and Class Four Milk was down 36 percent. Cotton, hogs and ethanol also had drops greater than 30 percent.