MERRIAM, KAN. – Seaboard Corp. announced its 2022 fiscal year financial details, ending Dec. 31, 2022, with varying results.

Operating income in its pork segment was negative $96 million. This is down from positive operating income of $277 million for the same period in 2021. Company-wide operating income was $657 million, up from $458 million last year. 

In the pork segment, net sales totaled $2.61 billion in 2022, an increase over the same period in 2021, which totaled $2.48 billion. 

“The increase was primarily the result of higher biodiesel prices and increased sales of biofuel credits, and to a lesser extent, higher volumes of biodiesel sold, and higher prices of pork products sold, largely offset by a decrease in volumes of pork products sold and lower volumes and prices of market hogs sold,” the company said in its earnings statement.

According to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Seaboard reported 2022 net sales of $11.2 billion compared to $9.2 billion during the same period in 2021.

Net earnings attributed to Seaboard were $580 million, up from $570 million in the same period a year ago. 

As an investor in Butterball LLC, Seaboard’s turkey segment reported income of $103 million compared to a $20 million loss in 2021. The company has a 52.5% non-controlling interest in Butterball.

The SEC filing said that “commodity pork and turkey prices demonstrate a cyclical nature over periods of years, reflecting changes in the supply of fresh meat and competing proteins on the market.”