Feedyard margins decline $40 - Sterling Profit Tracker

Cattle feeding margins declined more than $40 per head last week, falling back into negative territory as cash fed cattle prices fell $2 to $3 at $83 to $85 per hundredweight.   Packer margins improved more than $3 per head, but remain negative. The Sterling Profit Quotient declined more than 125 on the week.

The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker is calculated using actual weekly prices for Choice fed steers, feeder steers, feed costs, boxed beef-cutout prices, hide and offal values, and other factors that influence profit margins.

The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker for the week ending 11/14/09:

• Average feedyard margins: -$35.48 per head.
• Average packer margins: -$72.09 per head.
• Sterling Profit Quotient: -125.6

For additional information and a chart about this week’s Sterling Beef Profit Tracker, click here.

The Sterling Beef Profit Tracker is produced by Sterling Marketing Inc. and John Nalivka, president, Vale, Ore., and is published weekly by Drovers/CattleNetwork.

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