If only every year in the cattle industry could be as easy as 2014 or 2015! Risk management was having cattle to sell and then talking to your accountant at the end of the year about tax strategies! Cow-calf operating margins hovered around $500 / head while cash feeding margins were around $200 / head Packers faced with record procurement prices for cattle which fed upstream cattlemen and feeding profits, realized only a little more than breakeven margins. That was an exceptional year and one not likely to be repeated. So, four years and 6 million more cattle later, the industry faces the economics of record beef production not to mention record or near-record total meat supplies. I am projecting cow-calf margins, feeding, and packer margins for 2018 at $125, $50, and $138 per head,…
