The Iowa Farm Bureau Fed­­eration (IFBF), along with its national organization, is working to monitor and address the potential for market manipulation in livestock markets related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Livestock farmers have heighten­ed anxiety about pot­­ential manipula­tion in mar­­kets,” said Craig Hill, a Warren County crop and livestock farmer and president of the IFBF. “We’ve seen future markets for cattle and hogs down nearly 30% since the virus was first confirmed in China.”

Monitoring markets

The IFBF and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) are engaged in constant communication regarding market manipulation concerns, and have ensured this issue...