NSW has been affected by drought since 2017. Between July and December 2019 much of the state had a severe rainfall deficit or the lowest rainfall on record for that six-month period. The lack of water allocations and low soil moisture profile in cropping regions led to low summer crop production in NSW.

Livestock producers were reliant on transporting hay and grain from interstate. In 2019-20 approximately 2.3 million tonnes of grain was shipped to the NSW east coast from South Australia and Western Australia ⁹³. With extensive livestock constrained, the feedlot sector reached record numbers of cattle on feed. There were nearly 350,000 cattle in NSW feedlots in December 2019, and throughput reached record levels in 2019-20.

Significant rainfall began to fall in February 2020, initially in coastal NSW. Above-average rain fell in central NSW in March and April. In April 2020 the Darling River joined the Murray River for the first time in two years. These positive developments have helped the livestock sector begin herd rebuilding, while the improved soil moisture profile will benefit the 2020-21 winter crop.

The COVID-19 pandemic spread globally with Australia recording its first case in late January 2020, at which time there were 1,320 infections worldwide ¹⁴⁵. The virus originated in China, which introduced severe public health measures nationwide to control the spread of infections.

Shortly thereafter panic buying emerged in Australian as consumers feared a severe lockdown imposed by state governments. Toilet paper, flour, pasta and rice were in short supply and supermarkets instituted buying limits on these products. The NSW Government was the first state to put restrictions on public gatherings and businesses, encouraged working from home and then closed schools. At the same time, extensive testing was conducted throughout Australia for anyone who showed symptoms of COVID-19. This helped to reduce the spread of COVID-19 so that, by May 2020, there were few daily cases spreading by community transmission.

Unfortunately, in late June, new Australian outbreaks of COVID-19 were identified in hotels housing quarantined travellers in Melbourne Victoria. These outbreaks spread into suburbs in the inner north of Melbourne and the Victorian Government reintroduced lockdowns to reduce the spread of the virus ⁴⁸.

By June 2020 the United States was the worst affected country with over 2.5 million people infected and over 126,000 deaths. Brazil, Russia, United Kingdom, Italy, Peru and Spain were also severely affected ¹⁴⁶.

COVID-19 led to temporary shifts in export patterns. Red meat exports to China fell in February 2020, when ports were shut but rebounded to normal levels soon afterward. Similar patterns were observed in red meat exports to South Korea and USA.