Latest News From Packer

Last week’s rally to new record prices pushed packer and feeder margins in opposite directions. Pork producer margins continue higher with prices now above year ago.

The economic environment of both the beef and pork industries has changed. Capacity utilization for both beef and pork has a significant impact on margins and the market impact goes beyond supply and demand.

Improving prices for live cattle and wholesale beef lifted margins for both feeders and packers. Pork producers also found improved margins but remain in the red.

Cattle feeding margins fell deeper into the red while packer losses doubled from the prior week. Pork producer margins have now printed red every week for the past year.

Cattle feeding margins declined nearly $100 per head last week with lower cash bids and rising costs. Pork producer margins remain mired in red ink.

The North American Meat Institute releases its 2023 Continuous Improvement Report with data submitted for this year’s report covering an estimated 90% of all meat sold in the United States.

Higher cattle prices and declining wholesale beef prices pushed packer margins further underwater last week. Pork producer margins inched into the black.

Tyson Foods is deploying autonomous refrigerated box trucks to bolster Tyson routes in Northwest Arkansas. Operating 18 hours a day, these driverless trucks will deliver products to distribution and storage facilities.

Environmental groups are pushing U.S. securities regulators to thwart JBS SA's New York share listing over concerns about the world's largest meatpacker's impact on deforestation, climate change and other issues.

The spread between cattle feeding margins and beef packer margins has now reached $500 per head as packing losses increase. Pork producer margins are the highest of the year.

There’s a $400 spread between cattle feeding margins and packer margins – now in the cowboy’s favor. Cattle harvest is lower as packers reduce hours, a signal their margins are in the red.

The Packers and Stockyards Act changes may be coming, as the Fiscal Year 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill has been sent to the full House for consideration.

Cattle feeders sold more cattle last week than any week this year and at the highest price in history. Pork producers saw modest profits.

Meat processing plants in the U.S. have garnered considerable public attention recently. A new study looks to identify characteristics associated with plant survival and provide crucial information for legislators.

Profit margins for cattle feeders and packers continue pacing in opposite directions as shrinking supplies of market-ready cattle drive negotiated cash prices higher.

Cattle feeders experience largest average profits in seven years as packer margins dip into the red.

The Meat Institute partners with the Information Technology-Information Sharing and Analysis Center to enhance cybersecurity for the meat and poultry industry.

The Protein PACT Academic Advisory Council is formed to advise on research priorities and the latest evidence related to meat production and consumption.

Cattle feeders saw average profits of more than $300 per head last week while pork producers found average losses of about $13 per head.

U.S. House Agriculture's Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday provided an opportunity for animal agriculture stakeholders to detail their priorities they hope to achieve from lawmakers actions.

After Tyson Foods reports anemic first quarter sales and downgrades its forecast, The Wall Street Journal editors wrote, “This doesn’t look like an antitrust conspiracy or market oligopoly.”

Tyson Foods Inc posted a surprise second-quarter loss on Monday and cut its full-year revenue forecast on falling beef and pork prices, sending the U.S. meat packer's shares tumbling 9% before the bell.

Effective immediately, JBS USA will begin the transition of 10 facilities to its newly created company, JBS Sanitation.

JBS USA is ending contracts with a U.S. company fined for hiring kids to clean meat plants, the unit of Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA said on Monday, adding it is bringing the work in-house at some facilities.

USDA announced $125 million will be available through two new grant programs that will create more options for meat and poultry farmers by investing in independent, local meat and poultry processing projects.

USDA sent a letter to the 18 largest meat and poultry processors to request all actors in the food supply chain take steps to prevent or eliminate illegal child labor, which has risen 69% since 2018.

Tyson Foods gave its chicken suppliers two months' notice of its plan to shut a Virginia processing plant in May, raising concerns among farmers and legal experts about Tyson's compliance with antitrust regulations.

National livestock groups are uniting to support Congressional efforts to expand opportunities for industry to invest in meat packing capacity. 

The management of Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA said on Wednesday it "will be selective" in relation to launching share buyback programs and also regarding acquisitions given instability in international markets.

Profit margins for cattle feeders increased as cash prices moved higher last week. Pork producers continue operating with negative margins.

USDA issued a proposed rulemaking on Monday that would effectively close the "Product of the U.S.A." loophole that has been in effect since the repeal of COOL in 2015.

Rising wholesale beef prices and declining packing plant utilization are two indicators to watch as the 2023 cattle markets unfold.

Cattle and hog harvest rates were lower last week with higher cash prices paid to farmers and feeders. Margins for both beef and pork packers are trending lower.

Cattle prices moved higher last week but cattle feeding margins remain modest. The supply-demand fundamentals are trending in favor of cattle feeders.

Packer margins remain in the red even as wholesale beef prices rallied $9 per cwt. and cash cattle prices were near steady.

Beef packers saw per head losses nearly double last week as wholesale beef prices tumbled $7 per cwt. lower. Pork processors are also found negative margins and producer margins remain short of breakeven.

Profit margins for both cattle and hog finishing operations saw modest gains last week but also carry significantly higher feed costs than a year ago.

The biggest U.S. meat company by sales said on Wednesday it will relocate all corporate employees from offices in Chicago and Downers Grove, Ill. and Dakota Dunes, S.D., to its headquarters in Springdale, Ark.

Market leverage has shifted dramatically toward ranchers and cattle feeders over the past two months. The combination of rising cattle prices and declining wholesale beef prices has eroded historic packer margins.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing regulations to prevent meat companies from retaliating against livestock and poultry farmers who speak out on practices such as price-fixing.

Average feed costs for finishing cattle and hogs are 25% to 28% higher than the same week last year, according to Sterling Marketing's weekly calculations.

The average cost of feeding a steer to finish weight was 25% higher for cattle marketed last week and is projected to be 31% higher for cattle placed on feed last week at roughly $600 per head.

Grocery retailer Giant Eagle alleges the nation’s large beef packing companies have exploited their market power to limit the supply of beef and raise prices in a new lawsuit filed in Chicago on Wednesday.

If finding employees to fill positions wasn’t hard enough, finding available and affordable housing has encouraged companies to provide housing options as part of employment.

The House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis alleges meat packers pressed “baseless” claims of beef and pork shortages early in the pandemic to persuade the Trump Administration to keep operations running.

The North American Meat Institute says a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis’ report distorts the truth about the meat and poultry industry’s work to protect employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA posted a first-quarter profit that beat expectations on the back of strength in its United States business, according to a financial statement on Wednesday.

Biden says Ukraine has 20 million tons of stored grain awaiting export to various countries. He says lack of port movement coupled with halted planting in Ukraine will ignite a global food crisis unless action is taken.

Tyson Foods Inc TSN.N raised its full-year sales outlook on Monday after soaring meat prices helped the U.S. processor beat quarterly revenue and earnings estimates.

New research has concluded that higher wages, among other benefits, are necessary to attract workers to meatpacking jobs.