Breakevens remain key in determining retained ownership

Sterling Marketing’s estimate for April feeding margins fell sharply from March as the break-even price increased to $118 per cwt from $116 per cwt. These higher breakevens were judged against April’s five-area steer price average of $120 per cwt. Steer prices for the first four months of 2018 averaged $124 per cwt, compared to $122.52 per cwt for the same period a year ago. However, feeding margins for those months averaged $135 per head in 2018 compared to $313 per head in 2017. The difference—break-even prices for the January to April period average $114 per cwt in 2018 compared to $100 per cwt in 2018. –Drovers CattleNetwork Read more…