Cash cattle prices averaged $1 per cwt lower last week, feedyard margins improved $24 per head

Cash cattle prices averaged $1 per cwt lower last week, yet feedyard margins improved $24 per head, producing total losses of $43 per head, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. The improvement was attributed to lower costs for feeder cattle calculated against last week’s closeouts. Packer margins improved $27, with total profits at $183 per head.The beef cutout gained $2.62 per cwt., closing at $203.49. The cost of finishing a steer last week was calculated at $1,553, which is $10 lower than the $1,563 a year ago. The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated by Sterling Marketing Inc., Vale, Ore.A year ago cattle feeders were losing $42 per head. Feeder cattle represent 72% of the cost of finishing a steer compared with 74% a year ago.Farrow-to-finish pork producers saw their margins decline $6 per head, from a $5 profit two weeks ago to a $1 per head loss last week. Lean carcass prices traded at $61.41 per cwt., $3.68 per cwt. lower than the previous week, and $2.62 higher than a month ago. A year ago pork producers earned an average of $10 per head. Pork packer margins averaged a profit of $28 per head last week.Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka projects cash profit margins for cow-calf producers in 2018 will average $156 per cow. That would be $2 per head less than the estimated average profit of $158 for 2017. Estimated average cow-calf margins were $173 in 2016, and $438 per cow in 2015.For feedyards, Nalivka projects an average profit of $26 per head in 2018, which would be $155 less than the average of $181 per head in 2017. Nalivka expects packer margins to average about $140 per head in 2018, up from $120 in 2017.For farrow-to-finish pork producers, Nalivka projects 2018 profit margins will average a loss of $5 per head in 2018, compared to profits of $21 in 2017. Pork packers are projected to earn $17 per head in 2018, down from $25 profit per head in 2017.