South Dakota Farm Bureau (SDFB) is carefully following the commodity markets, in particular the beef cattle market, and monitoring reactions to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We are seeing disruptions in the entire food and grocery supply chain that are impacting most ag markets and prices for our producers,” said Scott VanderWal, SDFB president. “SDFB is in communication with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), USDA and other regulatory agencies to carefully monitor this situation.”

If producers have specific examples of market manipulation, they are invited to share them with SDFB. Those examples will be elevated to AFBF which is in contact with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), an independent agency of the U.S. government that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, including futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options.

 SDFB has always urged producers to consider using one or more of the many tools and resources that are available for producers to manage price risk, as they deem appropriate.

 Comments can be directed to SDFB at contact@sdfbf.org or 605-353-8050.