Latest News From Profit Tracker

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Profit Tracker: Margins Hold In The Black

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

Profit Tracker: Modest Margins
Profit Tracker: Modest Margins

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

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Profit Tracker: Margins Top $50/Head

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

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Profit Tracker: Packer Margins Near $200

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.

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Profit Tracker: Treading Water

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

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Profit Tracker: Losing Ground

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

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Profit Tracker: Gaining Momentum

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. 

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Profit Tracker: Profits Remain Above $150

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

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Profit Tracker: Profits Exceed $200

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

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Profit Tracker: Eureka!

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

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Profit Tracker: Nearing Break Even

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

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Profit Tracker: Running Red

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.

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Profit Tracker: Another Retreat

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

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Profit Tracker: Shifting Momentum

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. 

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Profit Tracker: Stuck In Red

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.

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Profit Tracker: Same Old Story

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

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Profit Tracker: Another Rough Week

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

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Profit Tracker: A Step Back

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.

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Profit Tracker: No Triple Digit Losses

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

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Profit Tracker: Steady Progress

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

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Profit Tracker: Margins Improve $60 Per Head

Feedyard margins are slowing erasing the red ink. 

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Profit Tracker: Feeding Margins Improve 30%

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

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Profit Tracker: Losses Exceed $300

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

BT_Feedlot_Cowboys
Profit Tracker: A Step Back

Feedyard closeouts declined an average of $20 per head, leaving losses at $265 per head last week, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.

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Profit Tracker: Feeding Margins Improve $100 (VIDEO)

Feedyard closeouts saw a $100 per head improvement last week, bringing losses under the $300 per head mark for the first time in months.

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Profit Tracker: Feeding Margins Post $40 Gains

Cattle feeders found a modest improvement of $40 on closeouts last week, but the bottom-line was still $345 in the red. 

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Profit Tracker: Packer Margins Near $200

Beef packers saw their margins jump more than $86 per head higher last week, leaving average profits at $199, according to calculations by Sterling Marketing, Vale, Ore. 

Profit Tracker: Packer margins near $200
Profit Tracker: Packer margins near $200

Beef packers saw their margins jump more than $86 per head higher last week, leaving average profits at $199, according to calculations by Sterling Marketing, Vale, Ore. Cattle feeders saw their losses increase marginal

In general, the Unit Cost of Production (UCOP) is simply your Total Costs divided by Total Production.
Measuring your cost of production and profit margin

The cost of producing one unit of output is extremely important information in any business. It determines your break-even price which, in turn, helps determine pricing decisions and profit margins. It also provides a b

As you make plans for this year, decide now to schedule time that will be spent working on the business in the year ahead.
Commit time to work on the business this year

January has arrived. Traditionally this is the time of year when people reflect on the year past and also think about changes that could be made in the New Year to move them toward their goals. As you make plans for thi

BT_Feedlot_Cowboy_Winter
Profit Tracker: Another Step Back (VIDEO)

After slicing more than 50% off the monstrous losses found a month ago, cattle feeders saw their margins slip $43 per further into the red last week with $2 per cwt. lower bids. 

Profit Tracker: Another step back
Profit Tracker: Another step back

After slicing more than 50% off the monstrous losses found a month ago, cattle feeders saw their margins slip $43 per further into the red last week with $2 per cwt. lower bids. Closeouts revealed a $383 per head loss o

Monday Market Sentiment: 5-Area cattle price declines

After a rally during the first week of 2016 to $134.04 per hundredweight, the 5-Area Accumulated Average Cattle Price dropped to $132.30 per hundredweight.

In the Cattle Markets: Interesting start to 2016‚...
In the Cattle Markets: Interesting start to 2016‚...

Last week Dr. Brooks provided a series of thoughts on how 2016 may shake out for the cattle industry. Given developments in multiple financial markets it is useful to pause and appreciate the broader situation underpin

Drovers Radio: November pork, beef exports gain momentum

U.S. beef exports were down slightly from November 2014, but posted their largest volume (95,799 metric tons) since June. Most Asian markets performed well for U.S. beef in November, but exports continued to slump to le

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Profit Tracker: Margins Improve 38%

Cattle feeding margins improved by 50% over the past two weeks, and by 38% during the past week. 

BT_Feedlot_Bunk_Cattle
Profit Tracker: Margins Improve 20%

A $6-plus per cwt. gain in cash cattle prices produced a 20% improvement in feeding margins.

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Profit Tracker: Losses Near $700

The crisis continues for America’s cattle feeders.

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Profit Tracker: Unrelenting Misery

Another miserable week left many in the cattle feeding business on the brink of financial ruin. 

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Profit Tracker: Losses Now Exceed $600!

Uncharted territory. That’s where America’s cattle feeding industry finds itself as fed cattle lose $611 per head. 

New website offers resources to help operators understand, manage farm risk
New website offers resources to help operators understand, manage farm risk

A new website from Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture and the Indiana Soybean Alliance is available to help farm operators manage risk.

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Profit Tracker: Breakevens Hit $170

Calculated breakeven prices for cattle shipped from feedyards last week were $170.12, according to Sterling Marketing, Vale, Ore.

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Profit Tracker: Simply Worse

The adjectives have all been used to describe the despair that is cattle feeding. Last week was simply worse than the week before, which was a train wreck. 

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Profit Tracker: Train Wreck Continues

After months of extreme losses, feedyard managers entered November with ideas the worst was behind them. 

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Profit Tracker: Extreme Losses Return

Last week erased the modest gains cattle feeders saw the past few weeks and tacked on more heavy losses. 

BT_Feedlot_Bunkline
Profit Tracker: Modest Gains, Packers Slipping

Another small rally in cash fed cattle markets provided another modest improvement in feeder margins, but closeouts remain $24.66 per cwt. short of break even. 

BT_Feedlot_Cattle_Texas
Profit Tracker: $40 Gains, Packers Slip

Last week’s $2.50 rally in the cash market was another step in the right direction, but closeouts remain $26.46 per cwt. short of break even.

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Profit Tracker: $90 Per Head Improvement

Last week’s $8.50 rally in the cash market was sorely needed, but closeouts remain $29.65 per cwt. short of break even.

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Profit Tracker: A River Of Red Ink Flows

It’s been a rough fall for cattle feeders, but cowboys found some signs last week that suggest the worst may be behind them.

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Profit Tracker: Catastrophic Feedyard Losses

Cattle feeders hope the cash market found its bottom last week.