Farrow-to-finish pork producers saw
their margins improve $4 per head to $4.41. Margins were at breakeven the
previous week. Lean carcass prices traded at $59.25, an increase of $1.84 per
cwt. from the previous week. A year ago pork producers lost an average of $8
per head. Pork packer margins totaled $30 per head last week, a decline of $3
per head.
Cash prices for fed cattle are $5 per cwt. higher than the same
week a year ago. Lean hog prices are about $5 per cwt. higher than last year.
Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka projects cash profit
margins for cow-calf producers in 2017 averaged $143 per cow. That would be $34
per head less than the estimated average profit of $177 for 2016. Estimated
average cow-calf margins were $438 per cow in 2015.
For feedyards, Nalivka projects an average profit of $236 per
head in 2017, which compares favorably with average losses of $4.25 per head in
2016. Nalivka expects packer margins to average about $119 per head in 2017, up
from $114 in 2016.
For farrow-to-finish pork producers, Nalivka projects 2017
profit margins averaged $21 per head, compared to $5 per head last year. Pork
packers are projected to earn $25 per head in 2017, up slightly from $24 profit
per head in 2016.