Pork Profit Tracker: Profit Margins Steady
Farrow-to-finish pork producers lost an average of $19 per hog last week, $5 per head more than the previous week. A month ago farrow-to-finish pork producers showed a profit of $15 per head.
Pork packers saw their margins steady at $40 per head. Negotiated prices for lean hogs were $49.79 per cwt., a $2.85 decline. Cash prices for lean hogs are about $2 per cwt. lower. The Pork Profit Tracker is calculated by Sterling Marketing Inc., Vale, Ore.
Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka projects profit margins to average $25 per head, compared to $5 per head last year. Pork packers are projected to earn $23 per head in 2017, down slightly from $24 profit per head in 2016.