Market leverage continues to shift in the favor of cattle and hog finishers, a trend that has continuously chipped away at the historic packer margins of a year ago.

Autumn’s fed cattle price rally has pushed average cattle feeding margins through the $200 per head barrier for the first time since well before the pandemic.

The highest cash fed cattle prices in seven years provided good profits for cattle sold last week but rising costs are pushing breakevens higher.

Profit margins for both cattle and hog finishing operations saw modest gains last week but also carry significantly higher feed costs than a year ago.

Negative margins continue growing for beef packers as tightening supplies of cattle support cash prices $17 per cwt. higher than the same week a year ago.

Beef packers saw per head losses nearly double last week as wholesale beef prices tumbled $7 per cwt. lower. Pork processors are also found negative margins and producer margins remain short of breakeven.