Cash cattle prices stubbornly steady to $1 higher gave a slight boost to feedyard margins and left packer margins nearly unchanged last week.
Cattle feeders saw closeouts with an average profit of $58 per head last week, down modestly from the week before.
Higher fed cattle prices ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday helped lift cattle feeding margins modestly.
Feedlot closeouts averaged a profit of $22 per head last week, while packer margins remain above $200.
Cattle feeding and packer profit margins were mostly steady the week ending December 21, with cash prices for fed cattle slightly higher.
For the first time since December, 2017, cattle feeding margins have exceeded packer margins in the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.
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.
