While crop prices are the lowest in four years, feed costs still aren’t low enough to deliver stable livestock profits.

Farmers have historically used livestock as a way to market corn and diversify their farms during times of low crop prices, Iowa State University Extension livestock specialist Lee Schulz points out. 

Normally livestock farmers would be poised to benefit from lower feed costs as new-crop futures for corn and soybeans have plunged to the lowest level since 2020. Corn prices fell below $4 per bushel last week, and soybean prices are at risk of breaking the $10 barrier.  

However, Schulz and other livestock economists say there’s no guarantee that lower feed costs will translate into profitability this year as livestock margins have also been...