Livestock and Grain Markets, Prices & Futures
Use the chart below to check futures prices for commodities. Click the links for pricing on grains, livestock, and more and stay on top of what’s going on in the markets. Cash price reflects the USDA Chicago terminal.
Latest News from Markets
As expected, beef packer margins jumped wildly higher the week ending Aug. 17, while cattle feeding margins slipped into the red.
Packer margins advanced on softer cash cattle prices and gain in the beef cutout prices.
Packer margins have grown to exceptionally high levels in recent weeks, while feedyard profits have eroded.
Feedyard margins climbed back into triple digits last week with a $1 to $2 price rally.
Beef packers continued to maintain their leverage on cattle markets heading into the holiday-shortened first week of September.
Cattle feeding margins slipped further into the red last week on soft cash prices, while packer margins climbed to extreme heights.
Last week’s $2 rally in cash cattle prices helped narrow the spread between feedyard losses and packer profits.
Feedyards saw closeouts improve dramatically last week after the cash cattle market posted its third consecutive week of higher prices.
Gains in cash fed cattle prices did not translate into higher profits for feedyards last week as higher feeder cattle prices were calculated into breakevens.
The combination of shrinking packer profits and smaller feedyard losses over the past six weeks has reduced the packer/feeder margin spread by 27%, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.