Cattle Market Update

From Steve Kay, editor and publisher of Cattle Buyers Weekly. Catch a roundup of each week’s cattle-market activity every Friday afternoon! View the market review now!

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Steve Kay's Friday Market Update

Catch a roundup of each week’s cattle-market activity every Friday afternoon at beefmagazine.com. Steve Kay, editor and publisher of Cattle Buyers Weekly, the number-one marketing and business newsletter for the North American meat and livestock industry, will provide the week-ending summary.

For more info on Kay’s Cattle Buyers Weekly subscription newsletter, visit www.cattlebuyersweekly.com, phone 707-765-1725, or email info@cattlebuyersweekly.com.

Weekly update: January 2, 2009

The live-cattle trade Friday morning was light in the Corn Belt and virtually inactive on the Southern Plains. USDA’s mandatory price reporting (MPR) service reported that Nebraska sold 8,374 head at $137.84 dressed for a weekly total of 13,444 head. Iowa-southern Minnesota sold 3,144 head at $137.24 dressed and a few at $86.21 live for a weekly total of 9,809 head. Kansas sold 648 head at $136.19 dressed for a weekly total of 881 head. Texas sold no cattle for a weekly total of 2,331. The MPR weekly totals include negotiated cash and grid sales.

Live-cattle futures all closed higher. The February contract closed up 105 points at $87.10/ cwt. ($86.10 last Friday), April closed up 165 points at $90.75, June closed up 180 points at $88, August closed up 212 points at $87.85 and October closed up 160 points at $90.80.

The week’s cattle slaughter came in at an estimated 507,000 head (532,000 head the same week last year), with Friday’s kill 126,000 head and Saturday’s 33,000 head. Year-to-date FI slaughter is an estimated 159,000 head, 62.9% lower than 2008’s 428,000 head.

Boxed-beef cutout values were mostly steady on light demand and offerings. The Choice cutout was flat at $143.19/cwt. ($144.46 on Dec. 24) while the Select cutout declined $0.03 to $135.50. The Choice-Select cutout price spread was $7.69/cwt., compared to $9.86/cwt. on Dec 24. The reported spot boxed-beef trade for the week was 707 loads of fabricated cuts.

Packer margins for the week were negative by $24.89/head, compared to a negative $20.20 the week before, according to HedgersEdge.com.

Have a good week.

Steve Kay