In Guatemala, for the months when the quarantine was most severe, sales of live cattle were cut in half due to movement restrictions, lack of transportation, and market closures.
Due to the covid-19 outbreak, authorities agreed to impose severe restrictions on the circulation of people during April, May, June, and July, including total closures of the economy during several weekends.
During the first quarter of the year in Costa Rica 99,662 cattle were slaughtered, 4% more than reported in the same period in 2019, which is largely explained by shipments to the market in China.
Although the spread of covid-19 has negatively impacted most economic sectors worldwide, data from the Livestock Corporation (Corfoga) detail that between January and March 2019 and the same period of 2020, the number of cattle slaughtered increased by 3981, from 95681 to 99662.
Between the first two months of 2019 and the same period in 2020, the number of pigs slaughtered in Panama increased by only 1%, while cattle slaughtering grew by 3%.
The General Comptroller's Office of the Republic of Panama reported that 80,841 heads of pigs were slaughtered in the first two months of the year, a figure higher than the 80,067 reported in the same period of 2019.
After the sanitary protocol to sell meat to China came into effect and the industrial plants in Costa Rica were certified, the Central American country's sales to the Asian giant doubled between 2018 and 2019.
Figures from the Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (Procomer) show that in 2018 beef sales to China reached $22 million, while in 2019 they doubled to $57 million.
Following an outbreak of paralytic rabies in Veraguas province, local authorities reported that a cordon sanitaire was established to prevent the spread of the disease.
Representatives of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) explained that the quarantined area is equivalent to a 10-km radius from the reported outbreak in Mariato district.
Between 2018 and 2019, the number of cattle slaughtered in Panama increased 6%, while the number of pigs slaughtered decreased 9%.
According to the figures of the General Comptroller of the Republic of Panama, 341,188 heads of cattle were slaughtered last year, a figure higher than the 323,289 reported in 2018.
A 5,000 square meter industrial plant with the capacity to process 95 pigs per hour was inaugurated in the municipality of San Juan Opico, department of La Libertad.
The project, which required more than $5 million in investment, was financed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which contributed $2.3 million, and the remaining amount was disbursed by the Salvadoran Meat Industry (INCARSA).
Between 2017 and 2018, the number of cattle rose from 1.49 million to 1.58 million, an increase of 5%.
The National Agricultural Survey (ENA) prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, specifies that of the total number of cattle counted in 2018, 61.8% corresponds to meat production, 15.8% was allocated to milk production, 22.2% dual purpose and finally, working animals represent 0.2%.
In Nicaragua, ranchers claim that as a result of the tax reform and the inevitable increase in production costs, they have had to increase the slaughter of female cattle by 4%, putting at risk the growth of the cattle herd.
After the approval on February 27, 2019 of the amendment to the Tax Concertation Law, which consisted of raising income tax from 1% to 2% for medium sized companies with higher income, and for large taxpayers from 1% to 3%, the livestock sector has reported considerable increases in its production costs.
In Panama, the authorities ordered a temporary special agricultural safeguard measure to be applied to imports of beef other than prime and choice beef originating in the United States.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) indicated that this special safeguard, which will be in effect until December 2019, is because imports of this product reached last October, the activation level of the measure agreed in the SPC between Panama and the United States.
Between October 2018 and the same month in 2019, the number of cattle slaughtered in Panama increased 10%, while the slaughter of pigs decreased 6%.
According to the latest report of the General Comptroller of the Republic of Panama detail that in the first ten months of the year 283,227 head of cattle were slaughtered, a figure higher than the 270,214 reported in the same period of 2018.
The protocol allowing Guatemalan companies to sell live cattle in the neighboring country will come into effect on December 15, 2019.
After the negotiation process between Mexican and Guatemalan authorities has concluded and the sanitary regulations for the entry of animals have been approved, the Central American country has the green light to start selling live cattle.
Consistent with the downward trend reported in recent months, between January and August 2018 and the same period in 2019 the number of pigs slaughtered in the country fell 9%, while the slaughter of cattle grew 3% for the periods in question.
The most recent report of the General Comptroller of the Republic details that in the first eight months of the year 223,979 head of cattle were slaughtered, a figure higher than the 216,059 reported in the same period of 2018.
Between January and July 2018 and the same period in 2019 the number of pigs slaughtered in Panama decreased 9%, while the slaughter of cattle increased 3%.
The most recent data from the General Comptroller's Office of the Republic of Panama detail that in the first seven months of the year 193,231 head of cattle were slaughtered, a figure higher than the 187,248 reported in the same period of 2018.
Because Guatemalan authorities have not yet completed the health control program, local producers cannot export live cattle to Mexico, where they could sell between 10,000 and 15,000 head a month.
For Guatemalan cattle ranchers, Southern Mexico is an attractive market, because there is interest on the part of Mexican businessmen to buy standing cattle at better prices than those quoted in Guatemala.