Negotiated cash cattle remained steady the week ending Dec. 21 while feedlot margins increased $40 per head to an industry average of $202.33 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. Meanwhile, beef packers saw losses grow $35 per head to a loss of $133 per head. That puts the packer/feeder margin spread at $335 per head in favor of the feeder.
Cash cattle averaged $194.99 per cwt. the week ending Dec. 21, while Comprehensive Beef Cutout prices posted a $2 per cwt. increase to close at $310.40 per cwt.
Cattle marketed last week carried a total feed cost of $453.07 per head, about $36 more than feed costs for cattle sold the same week a year ago.
Cattle placed last week are calculated to have a purchase price for 750-800 lb. feeder steers at $265.11 per cwt., up $10 from a month ago.
The estimated total cost for finishing a steer last week was $2,771 per head, up from last year’s estimate of $2,411 per head.
Fed cattle slaughter totaled an estimated 498,536, down 7,402 head from the same week last year. Packing plant capacity utilization was estimated at 85.5%, up from 83.4% last year.
View the full Sterling Beef Profit Tracker for the week ending Dec. 21.
Farrow-to-finish hog producers found positive margins of $27.35 per head last week, down $4.06 from the previous week, according to the Sterling Pork Profit Tracker. A year ago, those margins were at -$57.54. Lean carcass prices averaged $80.35 per cwt., down $2.41 from the previous week.
Hogs placed for finishing last week had a breakeven at $143.39 per head.
Pork packers saw average profits of $22.11 per head, up $10.94 from the previous week. Last year pork packer margins were $59.74. Hog slaughter was estimated at 2.581 million head, up 152,448 head from the same week last year.
Pork packer capacity utilization was estimated at 95.7% compared to 90.1% last year.
View the full Sterling Pork Profit Tracker for the week ending Dec. 21.
The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated by Sterling Marketing, Vale, Ore.
(Note: The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker calculates an average beef cutout value for the week in its estimates for feedyard and packer margins. Other prices in the weekly Profit Tracker also are calculated weekly averages. Feedyard margins are calculated on a cash basis only with no adjustment for risk management practices. The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are intended only as a benchmark for the average cash costs of feeding cattle and hogs. Sterling Marketing is a private, independent beef and pork consulting firm not associated with any packing company or livestock feeding enterprise.)
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