Packer
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.
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.
Packer margins remain in the red even as wholesale beef prices rallied $9 per cwt. and cash cattle prices were near steady.
Cattle prices moved higher last week but cattle feeding margins remain modest. The supply-demand fundamentals are trending in favor of cattle feeders.
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 cattle feeders increased as cash prices moved higher last week. Pork producers continue operating with negative margins.
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 feeders experience largest average profits in seven years as packer margins dip into the red.
Cattle feeders saw average profits of more than $300 per head last week while pork producers found average losses of about $13 per head.
Cattle feeders sold more cattle last week than any week this year and at the highest price in history. Pork producers saw modest profits.
Profit margins for cattle feeders and packers continue pacing in opposite directions as shrinking supplies of market-ready cattle drive negotiated cash prices higher.
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.
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.
The Protein PACT Academic Advisory Council is formed to advise on research priorities and the latest evidence related to meat production and consumption.
The Meat Institute partners with the Information Technology-Information Sharing and Analysis Center to enhance cybersecurity for the meat and poultry industry.
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.
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.
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.
A Windsor, Colo. meat company has recalled some 90,000 pounds of various meat and poultry products that were produced under unsanitary conditions.
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.