Last week’s rally to new record prices pushed packer and feeder margins in opposite directions. Pork producer margins continue higher with prices now above year ago.
Feedyard managers are watching profit margins slowly shrink as the market settles into a seasonal summer slide. Average feeding margins registered $242 per head last week, a tidy profit any day, but $43 per head lower t
Struggling with negative margins of less than $100 per head for several weeks, feedyards witnessed a massive increase in losses last week as cash prices dipped below $98 per cwt.
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.
A decline of $5 per cwt in cash fed cattle prices pushed cattle feeding margins $60 per head lower, leaving losses at $120 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.
A $1 decline in average fed cattle prices and a $25 per head increase in the cost of feeder cattle pushed cattle feeding losses to $52 per head last week.
A $1 decline in average fed cattle prices and a $25 per head increase in the cost of feeder cattle pushed cattle feeding losses to $52 per head last week, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.