Sudden closures of meat processing plants and low market prices are creating difficult times for Iowa’s cattle farmers during the COVID-19 outbreak. Iowa Cattlemen Association Eastern Iowa Membership Coordinator Lane Eads has seen the local and statewide impact COVID-19 has had on Iowa’s cattle farmers. Eads tells KCII News some of the current issues plaguing the cattle industry during the outbreak, “We’re seeing beef fly off the shelves at the grocery store. Not only is it flying off the shelves at a higher price than normal, but again we are not seeing those prices here at the producer level. And two, moving forward we are having a decrease in cattle harvest in the United States as well as in Iowa specifically at our Tama plant, the national beef plant there in Tama. So that’s two things, as well as again viability of our live auction markets that we really analyze and try to work through with our producers during this COVID-19 pandemic.” Eads says unlike the pork industry, cattle are not being disposed of due to a lack of space on farms. He also says the Iowa Cattlemen Association will continue to advocate for Iowa’s producers and help them find financial help and ways to continue to sell market ready cattle during these times.