Pork industry margins remain in the producer’s corner with the week’s margin estimate averaging $45/head and close to the producer margin for the past 8 weeks. At the same time, packers have experienced narrow margins for the past 6 months as wholesale pork prices have not offset the cost of hogs even though market hog numbers have maintained packer capacity utilization in the economic, low-to-mid 90% range.
View the full Sterling Pork Profit Tracker for the week ending March 15.
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.)
