Download PDF The pork cutout was nearly steady this week, down only $0.06/cwt. from last week’s average. Cash hog prices fared much worse however, as the NDD negotiated market dropped $3.32/cwt. to average $57.91. That caused packer margins to expand to almost $25/head, which is about $5 higher than last week. The action in the …
Download PDF The rib primal finally came to life this week, jumping a little over $25/cwt. to average $573.27. That isn’t too far off of the all-time record high at $609/cwt. set back in September of 2021. This is a result of last-minute holiday buying and is carefully orchestrated by packers because they will be …
Download PDF The cash hog markets moved lower again this week, with the WCB negotiated price dropping $3.72/cwt. to average $59.44. That is the first sub $60 weekly average since early December, 2021. The cutout also eased lower, dropping $2/cwt. to average $85.04. There were a lot of buyers on holiday this week and thus …
Download PDF It should have been a quiet holiday week in the cattle and beef markets. The cutouts were up a little, the cattle market was down a little, but the futures market threw a hissy fit again and some of the front contracts lost almost $6 over the course of the four-day week. It …
Download PDF Live cattle futures settled down this week following the rout that took place last week. All contracts finished $1-2/cwt. higher than the week before. Whether or not that was justified remains to be seen because both the cutout and cash cattle moved lower. The Choice cutout dropped $4.46/cwt. to average $295.69 and the …
Download PDF After a couple of weeks of small increases, the pork cutout posted a modest decline this week. On a weekly average basis, it was down $1.41 to $87.05/cwt. Loins were the biggest drag on the cutout, but the hams and bellies also contributed to the decline. The biggest concern right now is the …
