Margin Watch: October

November 1, 2011

Hog Margins dropped slightly since the middle of the month as hog prices weakened while feed costs held relatively steady. Most of this weakness was evident in nearby periods, with deferred margins only down slightly from two weeks ago, and overall profitability through the firs...

Margin Watch: Mid-October

October 17, 2011

Hog Margins dropped slightly from extremely strong values seen at the end of September, but remain at historically high levels of profitability for producers through all of 2012. While hog prices remain well-supported and have increased in price over the past two weeks, feed cos...

Margin Watch: September

October 3, 2011

Hog Margins improved significantly since the middle of September, due to the ongoing combination of higher hog prices and a continued selloff in both corn and soybean meal. USDA released two key reports since the middle of the month, the quarterly Hogs & Pigs inventory and ...

Margin Watch: Mid-September

September 16, 2011

Hog Margins improved significantly since the end of August, owing to a combination of higher hog prices and a sharp selloff in both corn and especially soybean meal. While forward profitability has recovered for hog producers over the past two weeks, margins remain below the lev...

Margin Watch: August

September 1, 2011

Hog Margins continued to deteriorate over the past two weeks as an ongoing rally in the corn and soybean meal markets was combined with lower hog prices. With the exception of Q2 2012, forward hog production margins are projecting losses and are sitting at the bottom quartile of...

Margin Watch: Mid-August

August 15, 2011

Hog Margins deteriorated sharply since the end of July, following a combination of higher corn costs and lower hog prices over the past two weeks that eroded profitability for hog producers. Projected profit margins for Q4 are now negative vs. an indicative $7.00/cwt. profit les...