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Beef packers saw their margins decline to the lowest level since before the Tyson packing plant fire August 9 as beef cutout prices declined and cash cattle prices increased.

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 and hogs prices both moved higher last week and both enterprises posted profits on closeouts for the first time in several months.

Cattle feeding margins have slowly improved over the past few weeks, but average closeouts continue to show losses in excess of $100 per head.

Average feedyard closeouts saw modest profits for cattle last week as cash prices improved. Hog finishing margins declined from near breakeven to a loss of $6 per head.

Industry-wide average cattle feeding closeouts were printed in red ink last week for the first time since late September, while packers saw another significant decline to their margins.

Average cattle feeding margins improved $20 per head last week, which beef packer margins declined 17%. Farrow-to-finish operations recorded per head losses for the fourth consecutive week.

Cattle and hog finishing profit margins were little changed from last week, with modest profits for cattle and losses for hogs. Beef packer margins declined again to their lowest mark since March.

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.