Ep. 24 (Dr. Bart Fischer, Professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M and Co-Director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center)

Challenges in the cattle markets are not new, but the pandemic has herded these problems to the forefront with historic packer profits – a function of spreads between the prices ranchers are paid for their cattle and the prices people pay at the grocery store or other retail markets for beef.

In the wake of these unprecedented conditions, Congress commissioned a new report from the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) to examine fed cattle pricing, packing capacity, and related issues.