After reaching historic levels earlier this fall, beef packer margins have experienced steady declines over the past month as cattle prices have increased.
Feedyard closeouts improved modestly last week with a $1 increase in cash fed cattle prices. Packer margins increased on the extended rally to the beef cutout price.
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.
Workplace injuries in American meat and poultry processing and packing facilities has reached an all-time low, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Prices for shares of Beyond Meat sank more than 20% on Tuesday as the lock-up period ended for early investors of the first plant-based protein traded on Wall Street.
The Caldwell County, MO, Sheriff announced murder charges against the man at the center of the disappearance of Wisconsin cattlemen Nicholas and Justin Diemel.
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.
An attempted robbery at a rural Alberta property resulted in more legal woes for a rancher than for the thieves, and the case has become a flashpoint in the debate about rural landowners' rights to defend their property.
