Cattle Market Reports and Analysis

While cash cattle prices slipped only modestly, cattle feeders saw margins erode by $86 per head, falling from an average profit of $38 two weeks ago to an average loss of $49 per head last week.

Beef packer continued with a stranglehold on cattle markets last week, buying a few cattle to fill their needs at lower money and keeping operating margins historically high.

President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday he has asked the Justice Department to look into allegations that U.S. meat packers broke antitrust law.

The return of slaughter capacity to pre-coronavirus levels is good news, but the backlogs of cattle and hogs from the weeks of reduced capacity harvest remain a burden to producers in both markets.