CHICAGO – U.S. beef packer profits are back in the black for the first time in seven months as the onset of spring has boosted demand for steaks and hamburgers that will headline backyard cookouts.
This annual surge in beef sales, and subsequent profits, could not come soon enough for the U.S. beef industry, which has been hurt by drought, an uproar over ammonia-treated beef, and another case of mad cow disease.
On Thursday, U.S. beef packers earned an estimated $3.45 per head of cattle, according to the Colorado-based analytics firm HedgersEdge, which uses proprietary data to calculate the margins.
It was the first time the closely watched HedgersEdge's beef margins were positive since Sept. 15 when profits were $2.60 per head. Since that time, the margins were largely in the red with losses eventually reaching $121.20 per head — the worst in the 22 years that HedgersEdge has records.
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