Negotiated cash cattle remained steady the week ending Feb. 1 while feedlot margins decreased $39 per head to an industry average of $286.48 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. Meanwhile, beef packers saw losses increase over $100 per head to a loss of $174.06 per head. That puts the packer/feeder margin spread at $461 per head in favor of the feeder.
Cash cattle averaged $209.97 per cwt. the week ending Feb. 1, while Comprehensive Beef Cutout prices posted a $1.34 per cwt. decrease to close at $330.51 per cwt.
Cattle marketed last week carried a total feed cost of $469.93 per head, about $79 more than feed costs for cattle sold the same week a year ago.
Cattle placed last week are calculated to have a purchase price for 750-800 lb. feeder steers at $279.70 per cwt., up $14.59 from a month ago.
The estimated total cost for finishing a steer last week was $2,908 per head, up from last year’s estimate of $2,448 per head.
Fed cattle slaughter totaled an estimated 484,800, down 17,988 head from the same week last year. Packing plant capacity utilization was estimated at 83.2%, down slightly from 86.2% last year.
View the full Sterling Beef Profit Tracker for the week ending Feb. 1.
Farrow-to-finish hog producers found positive margins of $34.70 per head last week, up $4.90 from the previous week, according to the Sterling Pork Profit Tracker. A year ago, those margins were at -$13.50. Lean carcass prices averaged $85.56 per cwt., up $2.85 from the previous week.
Hogs placed for finishing last week had a calculated breakeven price at $70.97 per head.
Pork packers saw average profits of $5.16 per head, down slightly from the previous week. Last year pork packer margins were $40.50. Hog slaughter was estimated at 2.502 million head, down 127,266 head from the same week last year.
Pork packer capacity utilization was estimated at 95.5% compared to 100.3% last year.
View the full Sterling Pork Profit Tracker for the week ending Feb. 1.
The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated by Sterling Marketing, Vale, Ore.
(Note: The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker calculates an average beef cutout value for the week in its estimates for feedyard and packer margins. Other prices in the weekly Profit Tracker also are calculated weekly averages. Feedyard margins are calculated on a cash basis only with no adjustment for risk management practices. The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are intended only as a benchmark for the average cash costs of feeding cattle and hogs. Sterling Marketing is a private, independent beef and pork consulting firm not associated with any packing company or livestock feeding enterprise.)
