The livestock sector, like many others, got hit hard by COVID.

Bob Lowe, President of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association reflects on the impact.

"When we look back at this time last year it was all roses. The futures were up, exports were really moving hard, we were opening up new markets and from a beef producers point of view, there was no downside. That carried on fairly well till the middle of March, and then we all know what happened."

He says the pandemic showed us where the pressure points are in the supply chain, and it's obvious it's in the packing plants.

"When Cargill shut down for the 14 days, and JBS well they slowed right down. When you consider those two plants are about 80% of Canada's capacity
it didn't take long to back things up."

He says producers and processors should all be commended for the way they came through it, as well as the front line workers in the packing plants and grocery stores.