A $3 really in cash cattle prices lifted average cattle feeding margins into the black at $14 per head profits the week ending Feb. 24. That’s near a $100 per head improvement over one month ago. Beef packers also saw their margins improve $100 per head, though last week’s average remained $74 in the hole, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.
Cash cattle averaged $183.14 per cwt. the week ending Feb. 24, while wholesale beef prices posted gains to close at $296.61 per cwt. The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated by Sterling Marketing, Vale, Ore.
Cattle sold last week carried a total feed cost of $371 per head, down about $12 per head from the previous week, and about $217 less than feed costs for cattle sold the same week a year ago.
By GREG HENDERSON
February 28, 2024
