Markets
Cash cattle prices lost another $2 per cwt. last week, a decline of $7 over two weeks. Coupled with higher input costs on feeder cattle, the decline feedyards with an average $22 per head loss last week.
Cash cattle prices stubbornly steady to $1 higher gave a slight boost to feedyard margins and left packer margins nearly unchanged last week.
Sharply lower cash cattle prices erased $100 per head from closeout profit margins last week and left cattle feeders re-evaluating ideas of a spring rally.
Based on cash sales of $108.77, cattle closeouts lost an average of $90 per head the week ending March 15.
Declining cash fed cattle prices erased profit margins for cattle feeders last week, and declining wholesale beef prices cut packer margins by 34%.
Sharply higher beef cutout values produced windfall profits for beef packers last week while cattle feeders saw closeouts with average losses about steady, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.
Cattle feeding margins have slowly improved over the past few weeks, but average closeouts continue to show losses in excess of $100 per head.
Cattle and hog finishing margins remain positive for the sixth consecutive week, but cash prices for both declined modesty last week and margins eroded.
Both cattle feeding and hog finishing operations found modest profits for the fifth consecutive week calculated on a cash basis, according to the Sterling Profit Tracker.
Cattle and hog finishing margins are both modestly positive for the seventh consecutive week, though hog margins saw a slight decline with lower lean carcass prices.
Cattle and hog feeding operations saw their margins remain modestly profitable last week with little movement in cash prices. Both cattle and hog feeding margins are higher than last year at the same time.
Average cattle and hog finishing margins are both positive for the third consecutive week, according to calculations in the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker.
Cattle and hog finishing margins are both positive for the fourth consecutive week despite the fact cash prices for cattle and hogs were slightly lower last week.
Closeouts on cattle and hogs marketed last week remain modestly profitable for the sixth consecutive week, according to calculations by Sterling Marketing.
Cattle and hog feeding margins were little changed last week, with both recording modest losses. Beef packers saw improved margins on significant gains in wholesale beef prices.
Cattle and hog finishing margins were modestly positive the first week of December, marking the 11th consecutive week of profitability. Packer margins remain historically high.
Cash fed cattle prices ended last week $10 per cwt. lower than last year while the beef cutout closed $16 higher than the same week a year ago. The result? Packer margins $314 per head more than last year.
On a percentage basis, beef packer margins declined significantly last week. It’s all relative, of course, since the starting point from the previous week was stunning.
What will the next decade hold for your farm? What factors should you use to weigh investments or crop planning? Here are five trends and data sets to ponder from USDA’s latest Agricultural Baseline Projections.
Winter weather is packing a punch across much of farm country this week. However, its being somewhat ignored by the trade.
The editors at AgWeb.com are looking at experts’ projections for commodities in 2021 to help you succeed in the coming year. Here’s a look at what analysts expect for the upcoming year in the protein segments.
Health officials have issued another recall for a food product processed by a Northern California slaughterhouse.
Did you know ‚... the Children’s Literature Author Training was held Jan. 7-10 in Orlando, Fla.? The event was designed especially for authors identified as key opinion leaders, with selection priority on those
Your browser does not support the audio element.
In a letter to CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert, NCBA asked the agency to keep an “even closer eye on the cattle markets” following the fire that forced closure of Tyson’s beef plant in western Kansas.
Traceability in the food animal industry is more than negating disease risk—consumers are demanding more information about their food.
AgDay national reporter Betsy Jibben talked with buyers and sellers at a feeder cattle auction in Northern Indiana. She traveled to Shipshewana, Indiana.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) hasn’t released its November numbers past October due to the government shutdown. If they’re anything like October’s numbers, then they could be record-shattering.
The fire sent cattle prices plummeting. Portions of the industry demanded an investigation and USDA said it was looking into it. Experts at the cattlemen’s convention told AgDay that report is still pending.
There is little evidence to suggest that plant-based alternatives are anything more than a fad being driven by massive investments in advertising, outdated information and many false or misleading claims.