Feeding Margins Back In the Red
Cattle feeding margins declined $34 per head last week as cash cattle prices fell $2 per cwt. That left closeouts showing average losses of $5 per head. Packer margins gained $10 per head to $174, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.
The beef cutout increased $1.47 per cwt., closing at $204.61. The cost of finishing a steer last week was calculated at $1,558, which is $178 higher than the $1,379 a year ago. The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated by Sterling Marketing Inc., Vale, Ore.
A year ago cattle feeders were earning $223 per head. Feeder cattle represent 73% of the cost of finishing a steer compared with 72% a year ago.
Farrow-to-finish pork producers saw their margins slip $24 per head to a negative $27 per head. Lean carcass prices traded at $50.15 per cwt., $10 per cwt. lower than the previous week, and $17 lower than two weeks ago. A year ago pork producers earned an average of $51 per head. Pork packer margins averaged a profit of $35 per head last week.
Cash prices for fed cattle are $4 per cwt. lower than the same week a year ago. Lean hog prices are about $32 per cwt. lower than last year.
Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka projects cash profit margins for cow-calf producers in 2018 will average $128 per cow. That would be $30 per head less than the estimated average profit of $158 for 2017. Estimated average cow-calf margins were $173 in 2016, and $438 per cow in 2015.
For feedyards, Nalivka projects an average profit of $51 per head in 2018, which would be $185 less than the average of $236 per head in 2017. Nalivka expects packer margins to average about $147 per head in 2018, up from $120 in 2017.
For farrow-to-finish pork producers, Nalivka projects 2018 profit margins will average a loss of $1.72 per head, compared to profits of $21 in 2017. Pork packers are projected to earn $13 per head in 2018, down from $25 profit per head in 2017.