Negotiated cash cattle increased $0.87 per cwt. the week ending Dec. 7 while feedlot margins increased $74 per head to an industry average of $204.15 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. Meanwhile, beef packers did realize a small margin improvement of $10 per head, but still had a $81.14 per head loss. That puts the packer/feeder margin spread at $285 per head in favor of the feeder.
Cash cattle averaged $190.90 per cwt. the week ending Dec. 7, while Comprehensive Beef Cutout prices posted a $6.71 per cwt. increase to close at $308.71 per cwt.
Cattle marketed last week carried a total feed cost of $442.30 per head, about $24 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 $263.29 per cwt., similar to a month ago.
Driven by a stronger feeder market, the estimated total cost for finishing a steer last week was $2,748 per head, up from last year’s estimate of $2,358 per head.
Fed cattle slaughter totaled an estimated 497,954, down 76,094 head from the same week last year. Packing plant capacity utilization was estimated at 72.5%, up from 85.1% last year.
View the full Sterling Beef Profit Tracker for the week ending Dec. 7.
Farrow-to-finish hog producers found positive margins of $39.77 per head last week, up $3.25 from the previous week, according to the Sterling Pork Profit Tracker. A year ago, those margins were at sharply lower at -$51.63. Lean carcass prices averaged $88.46 per cwt., up slightly from the previous week.
Hogs placed for finishing last week had a breakeven at $143.78 per head.
Pork packers saw average losses of $7.64 per head, down $1.77 from the previous week. Last year pork packer margins were $54.49. Hog slaughter was estimated at 2.540 million head, down 2,711 head from the same week last year.
Pork packer capacity utilization was estimated at 85.4% compared to 84.6% last year.
View the full Sterling Pork Profit Tracker for the week ending Dec. 7.
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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