Rural Issue

Profits drop sharply for cow-calf producers

Cow-calf producers are seeing a sharp drop in profitability this year. According to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker, cash profit margins for cow-calf producers are expected to average 178 dollars per cow this year. That compares to 433 dollars last year and 518 dollars in 2014. John Nalivka publishes the Beef Profit Tracker report. He tells Brownfield Ag News, “We’ve seen, beginning about last fall, about a 40 percent drop in feeder cattle and calf prices—and also a pretty good drop on cull cow prices,” Nalivka says. “Consequently, we’ve seen that subsequent drop in margins.”

Brownfield reporter Ken Anderson interviews John Nalivka: