Weekly update: November 28, 2008

The live cattle trade Friday was light after an active trade Wednesday. Prices in Nebraska Wed averaged $141.86 per cwt. dressed, $89.91 live. Prices in Kansas averaged $89.78, in Texas $90.01. The three states reported 122,000 head sold.

USDA’s mandatory price reporting service reported that Nebraska Friday sold 2152 head at $89.31 live, $142.29 dressed for a weekly total of 60,598 head. Kansas sold 2249 head at $90 for a weekly total of 43,754 head. Texas sold 2415 head at $90 for a weekly total of 42,215 head. The MPR weekly totals include negotiated cash and grid sales. Live cattle futures closed flat to lower. December closed down 5 points at $87.37 per cwt. ($84.90 last Friday), February closed down 50 points at $87.65, April closed up 2 points at $89.72, June closed down 72 points at $84.95 and August closed down 55 points at $84.55. The week’s holiday-shortened cattle slaughter was an estimated 572,000 head (668,000 head the same week last year), with Friday’s kill 127,000 head and Saturday’s 61,000 head. Year to date FI slaughter is an estimated 31.173M head, 0.1% higher than 2007’s 31.157M head. Hog slaughter year to date is up 6.7%. Boxed beef cutout values were lower on light demand and light to moderate offerings. The Choice cutout declined $0.78 per cwt. to $151.61 per cwt. ($156.10 last Friday) while the Select cutout declined $1.27 to $140.76. The Choice-Select cutout price spread was $10.85 per cwt., compared to $10.87 per cwt. last Friday. The reported spot boxed beef trade for the week was 707 loads of fabricated cuts, 6.5% lower than last week’s 756 loads. Packer margins for the week were positive by $12.76 per head, compared to a positive $17.20 the week before, according to HedgersEdge.com.