Hog Prices-Markets
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.
Cattle and hog feeding both saw solid average profits for the week ending April 2, boosted by higher average farmgate prices. Cattle were positive for the second week, while positive hog margins entered a third month.
Cattle and hog feeding operations are experiencing the highest market prices since before the pandemic began more than a year ago. Hog margins were positive for the 11th consecutive week.
Profit margins for cattle and hogs continue trending in opposite directions as feedyard closeouts slipped below breakeven and hog margins saw another boost from higher prices.
Market hogs found twice the profit margin of fed steers last week due to a rally that has added nearly $22 per cwt. to lean hog carcass prices over the past month, while cash cattle prices have been stuck in neutral.
Cattle feeding margins improved $60 per head the week ending Feb. 12 and hog margins reported profits for the second consecutive week as lean hog prices rallied.
Lower average cattle prices last week cut average feedyard margins by $43 per head last week, while pork producers saw a $5 per head increase in average margins.
Average cattle feeding margins improved the final week of March, while average farrow-to-finish hog margins declined modestly.
Spiking wholesale beef prices the week before Christmas helped lift packer margins into the black while increasing cattle feeding margins.
Cattle prices moved higher last week but cattle feeding margins remain modest. The supply-demand fundamentals are trending in favor of cattle feeders.
Rising wholesale beef prices and declining packing plant utilization are two indicators to watch as the 2023 cattle markets unfold.
Average cattle feeding margins increased last week as negotiated cash prices set new record highs.
Profit margins for cattle feeders increased as cash prices moved higher last week. Pork producers continue operating with negative margins.
Cattle feeders experience largest average profits in seven years as packer margins dip into the red.
Profit margins for cattle feeders and packers continue pacing in opposite directions as shrinking supplies of market-ready cattle drive negotiated cash prices higher.
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Has the hype cooled for plant-based meat alternatives? Purdue economist Jayson Lusk thinks so. Here’s why.
Although China imported more than $205 billion worth of agricultural products in 2021, including more than $37 billion from the U.S., trade barriers deterred China’s imports from reaching even higher levels.
McDonald’s Corp. is accusing leading suppliers of pork of conspiring to fix pork prices over the past 14 years in a lawsuit filed Nov. 25.
There’s no question the pork and beef markets indicate consumers want more pork and beef. Scott Brown of the University of Missouri weighs in on what this could mean for 2023.
U.S. pork exports topped year-ago totals for the second consecutive month in September, while beef exports dipped below the $1-billion mark but remain on a record pace.