Beef Wrap April 27
Download PDF The cash cattle market eased about a dollar lower this week to average close to $177.50. Prices in the South fell mostly in the $173-174 range while in the North $177-179 was common. Trade volume was comparable to the week before and probably adequate relative to the current kill level. Packers will have …
Pork Wrap April 27
Download PDF It was more of the same for the pork cutout this week, posting a tiny $0.73/cwt. gain to average $79.12 for the week. The real excitement however, was in the cash hog market where the WCB negotiated price moved $3.24/cwt higher to average $71.69/cwt. The NDD also gained, but it was up only …
Pork Wrap April 21
Download PDF This week, cash hog prices continued to track lower, with the WCB negotiated market losing $2.57/cwt. on a weekly average basis. Clearly, the supply of market-ready hogs has not tightened up much and that has provided packers with leverage to keep hog prices on the defensive. The cutout was up $1.12/cwt. this week, …
Beef Wrap April 21
Download PDF Beef packers managed to barely keep their heads above water this week after a sharp increase in cash cattle prices the week before. Packer margins are estimated at $4/head, down from $34 the week before. In order to stay afloat, packers had to press hard on the beef market and they found some …
Pork Wrap April 14
Download PDF This week, while all of the fireworks were going off in the cattle and beef complex, it was just more of the same in the hog and pork complex. Hog and pork prices continued to their painfully slow grind lower. The NDD negotiated hog market was down $1.56/cwt. on a weekly average basis …
Beef Wrap April 14
Download PDF After rising $4/cwt. in each of the previous two weeks, the cash cattle market really outdid itself this week with a $7/cwt. increase to average just over $180 for the week. Trading started in earnest on Wednesday, which is a bullish signal in and of itself. Packers weren’t even able to pretend that …
Beef Wrap April 7
Download PDF The cash cattle market exploded higher this week as packers paid just over $173/cwt. for live cattle, up $4.34 from the week before. In the northern dressed markets, the gain was even more impressive, up $8.26/cwt. to $278.62. Looking back over the most recent two-week period, live prices have added $8.67/cwt. and dressed …
Pork Wrap April 7
Download PDF The pork market continued on its downward trajectory this week as the cutout dropped $1.85/cwt. to average $77.66 for the week. The cutout has now lost $10 in very methodical fashion over the past four weeks. Packers have responded by pressing down on the negotiated hog market and we saw the WCB price …
Pork Wrap March 31
Download PDF The soft undercurrent continued in the pork market this week. The cutout dropped $1.36/cwt. to average $79.51/cwt. for the week. There were two weeks in January where the cutout averaged just below $80, but other than that, the last time the cutout posted a weekly average this low was back in January, 2021. …