Feedyard
Cattle feeding margins improved $16 per head last week as cash prices inched higher less than $1 per cwt.
Cattle feeding margins improved $43 per head last week as cash prices gained nearly $2 per cwt.
Cattle feeding margins are rapidly declining as cash cattle prices retreat from spring highs
Cattle feeding margins jumped nearly $17 per head higher last week to average $196.50.
The increase in margins was the third consecutive weekly gain, leaving average profits above $230 per head.
Cattle feeding margins took two steps back last week as cash cattle prices hover around what producers hope are the summer lows.
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.
Easter week produced a $3 per cwt. decline in fed cattle prices and a $73 erosion in cattle feeding margins.
Cattle feeding margins gained only modestly, despite the fact feeder cattle factored into closeouts were $40 per head less than the previous week.
Feedyards are as close to breaking even on a cash basis as they’ve been during any point in the past 18 months.
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.
Last week’s $2 per cwt cash cattle rally lifted feedyard margins to breakeven.
Last week’s $1 per cwt retreat in cash cattle prices took feedyard margins only modestly lower.
Cattle feeders earned average profits of $68 per head last week, $30 per head more than the previous week.
Last week’s $4-plus rally in cash fed cattle prices cut average feedyard losses in half, leaving the red ink totaling $90 on every animal shipped.
Cattle feeders saw positive margins on closeouts for the ninth consecutive week.
Feedyard profit margins rebounded slightly after last week’s $2 rally in the cash fed cattle market.
The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker reports average cattle feeding closeouts were in the black last week, but with little room to spare.
Cattle feeding margins improved $16 per head last week as cash prices inched higher less than $1 per cwt.
Cattle feeding margins improved $43 per head last week as cash prices gained nearly $2 per cwt.
Packer margins have grown to exceptionally high levels in recent weeks, while feedyard profits have eroded.
Beef packers continued to maintain their leverage on cattle markets heading into the holiday-shortened first week of September.
Last week’s $2 rally in cash cattle prices helped narrow the spread between feedyard losses and packer profits.
Feedyards saw closeouts improve dramatically last week after the cash cattle market posted its third consecutive week of higher prices.
Gains in cash fed cattle prices did not translate into higher profits for feedyards last week as higher feeder cattle prices were calculated into breakevens.
The combination of shrinking packer profits and smaller feedyard losses over the past six weeks has reduced the packer/feeder margin spread by 27%, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.
Last week’s $1 increase in cash fed cattle prices did little for feedyard profits, but the $6.40 rally in wholesale beef prices added another $25 onto already large packer margins.
Cattle feeders continue to find modest profits on a cash basis despite last week’s $2 per cwt. market retreat.
Cattle feeding margins jumped $72 per head higher the week ending Jan. 25 as the value of feeder cattle calculated against those closeouts declined $8 per cwt.