Pork packers continue to be faced with low margins in the face of relatively low wholesale pork prices against the cost of finished hogs while those same hog prices support solid farrow-to-finish margins in the $40 range.
The March 1 Hogs and Pigs inventory indicated total hog numbers remain steady with a year ago the breeding herd was reported to be down 1%. The Dec-Feb pig crop at 33.7 million was even with a year ago suggesting market hog numbers for the 3rd quarter will be about unchanged from a year earlier.
View the full Sterling Pork Profit Tracker for the week ending April 5.
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.)
