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Already facing steep losses, cattle feeders saw their margins decline further in a dismal pre-Labor Day market.

The adjectives have all been used to describe the despair that is cattle feeding. Last week was simply worse than the week before, which was a train wreck.

Calculated breakeven prices for cattle shipped from feedyards last week were $170.12, according to Sterling Marketing, Vale, Ore.

Uncharted territory. That’s where America’s cattle feeding industry finds itself as fed cattle lose $611 per head.

Feedyard closeouts saw a $100 per head improvement last week, bringing losses under the $300 per head mark for the first time in months.

Another miserable week left many in the cattle feeding business on the brink of financial ruin.

The crisis continues for America’s cattle feeders.

After slicing more than 50% off the monstrous losses found a month ago, cattle feeders saw their margins slip $43 per further into the red last week with $2 per cwt. lower bids.

A $6-plus per cwt. gain in cash cattle prices produced a 20% improvement in feeding margins.

Cattle feeding margins improved by 50% over the past two weeks, and by 38% during the past week.