While cash cattle prices slipped only modestly, cattle feeders saw margins erode by $86 per head, falling from an average profit of $38 two weeks ago to an average loss of $49 per head last week.
Losses continued to grow for feedyards and the spread between feeder losses and packer profits only widened with a $1.50 per cwt. decline in cash cattle prices last week.
Beef packer continued with a stranglehold on cattle markets last week, buying a few cattle to fill their needs at lower money and keeping operating margins historically high.
Price discovery in today’s fed cattle market “appears to be functioning effectively in even the thinnest regional fed cattle markets,” according to an analysis by University of Arkansas agricultural economists.
Fifteen food and beverage associations sent a letter to President Donald Trump requesting priority access to COVID-19 vaccines to protect workers and keep the food supply chain running.
