Latest News From Greg Henderson

Last week's market rally helped feedyards erase much of their red ink, but not all.

Calling losses of $193 per head an improvement may be painful, but it’s accurate.

CME cattle futures followed Thursday’s limit up trading with solid gains again in action Friday. The nearby October contract closed up $2.12 at $101.15.

Cattle prices have fallen and so are profits.

Feedyard margins dropped another $20 last week to total an average loss of $90 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. 

Feedyard margins declined $28 per head last week to total an average loss of $70 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. 

Last week, Alberta-based Western Feedlots announced it would close early next year. It was stunning news from a company nearly 60-years-old, and it has cattlemen worried on both sides of the border. 

Feedyard margins improved last week despite a $3 per cwt. decline in cash cattle prices. 

Industry starts addressing animal-welfare issue caused by bigger fed cattle   

Last week’s $4-plus rally in cash fed cattle prices cut average feedyard losses in half, leaving the red ink totaling $90 on every animal shipped.

With three-quarters of 2016 nearly in the books, we see continued expansion of the beef cow heard and continued increases in beef production.

With cash cattle prices tumbling another $4 per cwt lower, cattle feeding margins fell accordingly.

A decline of $5 per cwt in cash fed cattle prices pushed cattle feeding margins $60 per head lower, leaving losses at $120 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. 

Cattle feeding margins slipped further into the red last week. 

A $1 decline in average fed cattle prices and a $25 per head increase in the cost of feeder cattle pushed cattle feeding losses to $52 per head last week.

Last week’s $1 per cwt retreat in cash cattle prices took feedyard margins only modestly lower. 

Last week’s $2 per cwt cash cattle rally lifted feedyard margins to breakeven. 

Cattle feeding margins eroded $62 per head last week, falling $35 into negative territory. 

USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report was pegged at 10.4 million head on July 1, 1% above last year’s total.

Mid-summer shipments of cattle off grass pastures to feedlots is in full-swing.

They’re far from pretty, but cattle feeding margins on a cash basis remain modestly positive.

Cattle feeders continue to find modest positive margins on cattle marketed, despite a significant year-over-year decline in cash fed cattle prices.

It took a $5 rally in fed cattle prices, but feedyard margins topped $50 per head last week, the Sterling Profit Tracker reveals.

Ranchers, no longer riding the crest of a supply-starved market, cinched up early this year for the inevitable ride lower. Few, however, expected the steep price decline for all classes of cattle and the volatility that has seeped out of the trading pits in Chicago.

Beef packer margins increased $6 per head, resulting in average profits of $198 on every animal processed. Packer margins are about $72 per head better than a month ago.

Cattle feeding profits declined $20vper head last week, yet closeouts remained $11 in the black. 

Cattle feeding profits declined $180 per head last week, yet closeouts remained $32 in the black.

A cash market rally helped add $62 per head to feedyard margins last week, ending with total average profits of $212 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. 

Price premiums are growing for preconditioned calves in every region.

Feedyard margins remained about $150 per head last week despite a $6 per cwt. retreat in cash cattle prices. 

Drovers Cowboy College tailored to cow-calf operators will be held June 20-21, at the Sheraton in West Des Moines, Iowa. 

Price premiums are growing for preconditioned calves in every region.

Cattle feeders turned a tidy profit last week despite a $2 retreat in cash cattle prices. 

Cattle feeders finally found profitability last week after cattle markets posted a $6 to $7 per cwt. rally. 

Feedyards are as close to breaking even on a cash basis as they’ve been during any point in the past 18 months. 

Most analysts expected feedyards to be near breakeven by the time the calendar turned to May. May is here and the underperforming cash fed cattle market has kept feedyards struggling.

Cash fed cattle prices retreated $7.77 per cwt. last week. As a result, closeouts added another $75 of red ink. 

Cash cattle prices may have been stuck in neutral last week, but cattle feeders saw an impressive gain in margins as the price of feeder cattle factored into closeouts dropped significantly. 

“Too big, too fat, too inconsistent,” is how Hop Dickinson, former CEO of the American Hereford Association, described cattle in the 1990s.

Cattle feeders generally expected margins to be much better by now. An anticipated spring rally that could have erased a lot of red ink has failed to materialize, leaving feedyard closeouts stuck in neutral with near $200 losses.

Cattle feeding margins gained only modestly, despite the fact feeder cattle factored into closeouts were $40 per head less than the previous week. 

Downward slide in prices expected to ease, but still trending lower.

Easter week produced a $3 per cwt. decline in fed cattle prices and a $73 erosion in cattle feeding margins. 

The march toward break even for cattle feeders stumbled last week as average losses increased $36 per head, leaving closeouts $113 in the red, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.

For the first time in over a year, average cattle feeding losses are out of triple digits, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. 

U.S. cattle producers are in the midst of aggressive expansion. 

It’s the best signal cattle feeders have seen in many months. 

Feedyard margins are slowing erasing the red ink. 

Last week’s $2 per cwt. rally in cash fed cattle prices helped feedyard closeouts improve nearly $100 per head.

Last week’s $3 per cwt. decline in cash fed cattle prices dealt another cruel blow to feedyard closeouts.