Kansas Livestock Association presented testimony Aug. 13 to the Special Committee on Economic Recovery about the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the livestock industry. The Special Committee is an interim Kansas legislative committee made up of House and Senate members from both parties. It is charged with examining the impacts the pandemic has had on various industry sectors and developing recommendations for next year’s legislative session.
KLA highlighted how packing plant slowdowns caused a backlog of cattle in feedyards, thereby increasing the supply of market-ready cattle, while at the same time grocery stores struggled to meet customer needs. This caused price declines for cattle producers, while consumers saw price increases at the meat counter.
KLA also discussed the federal assistance provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and highlighted a few state-specific changes that could help the recovery process. These included the Kansas Department of Agriculture using available federal relief dollars, allocated to the state, to fund equipment upgrades and expansion of cold storage at small state-inspected meat processing plants; developing laws to prevent inconsistent health-related restrictions among counties; finding ways to reduce the property tax burden on agriculture; and preserving sales tax exemptions for agricultural inputs and equipment.
