Updated at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7. Registration has closed for tonight’s Tele-Town Hall call. 

Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) is hosting a Tele-Town Hall discussion on Tuesday, April 7, at 7 p.m. (CST) on the impact the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on cattle markets.

Updates will be provided by representatives from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the American Farm Bureau Federation. The Tele-Town Hall represents an excellent opportunity for TFB members to ask questions and share concerns.

TFB members are struggling through a second volatile period in the cattle market in the last eight months. Cattle prices and futures contracts have diverged since the identification of COVID-19 leading to extreme losses in farm and ranch profitability.

While cattle prices fell, boxed beef value climbed to record levels in response to an extreme and sudden increase in consumer demand for protein. Packer gross margins have jumped, while the rest of the beef supply chain is suffering.

TFB has been in contact with Congressional leaders and U.S. Department of Agriculture representatives to help ensure adequate funding is provided for struggling cattlemen and women. TFB also spearheaded efforts on a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to highlight the issues ranchers are facing.

You must pre-register for the event in order to participate. Click here to register. You will be asked to submit your name and phone number.

Tele-Town Hall will call registrants shortly before the event to invite them to stay on the line and join the town hall meeting.

Please pre-register well in advance for the event to ensure all participant phone numbers are received.

If you have issues registering for the call, please contact Tracy Tomascik at ttomascik@txfb.org.