Profit Tracker: Breakevens Nearing $153 Per Cwt
Average breakevens for cattle placed on feed last week were just pennies shy of $153 per cwt., according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. For perspective, feeder steers 150 days ago cost about $153 per cwt.
The average cost of feeding a steer to finish weight was 28% higher for cattle marketed last week and is projected to be 37% higher for cattle placed on feed last week at roughly $600 per head, according to the Profit Tracker.
For the week ending Sept. 3, cattle feeders saw average profits of $116 per head as the 5-area fed steer price averaged $143.88 per cwt. That price was 14% higher than the same week a year ago. The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated by Sterling Marketing, Vale, Oregon.
Estimated beef packer margins for the week ending Sept. 3 were $132 per head, up $6 per head from the previous week and down 88% from estimated margins a year ago that exceeded $1,100 per head. Last week’s Choice beef cutout averaged $256.44 per cwt., about $3 lower than the previous week and down $79 per cwt. (23%) from the same week a year ago.
Feed costs for the cattle marketed last week averaged $569 per head, up $8 from the previous week but up $123 per head from last year. The estimated total cost for finishing a steer last week was $1,898 per head, up 15% from last year’s estimate of $1,650 per head.
Cattle slaughter totaled an estimated 638,000 head, down 40,000 head (3%) from the same week last year. Packing plant capacity utilization was estimated at 87.3% compared to 92.8% the previous week and 84.3% last year.
Farrow-to-finish hog producers found profits of $38 per head last week, down $37 per head from the previous week but up $13 per head (21%) from last year. Lean carcass prices averaged $109.38 per cwt., down $18 per cwt. from the previous week but up $13 from last year (14%).
Pork packers saw losses of an estimated $23 per head, which is $28 less than last week’s losses, and with the previous week but $40 less than the $17 profit per head from last year. Hog slaughter was estimated at 2.350 million head, down 55,000 head from the previous week and down 44,000 head (2%) from last year.
Pork packer capacity utilization was estimated at 87.3% compared to 88.8% the previous week and 89.0% last year.
(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.)
