A survey of cattle-industry leaders suggests the average price for cash cattle will decrease $0.11 to $105.78 per cwt this week.
The Monday Market Sentiment is a forecast of the upcoming weekly cash trade (5-Area weighted average price) prices reported by the USDA. This week prices increased for the first time in the past five weeks. Last week the USDA announced that cash trade for the week ending February 6th was 105.89, a 24 percent increase from a year earlier.
Among the reasons cited for the predictions were lower beef prices and a drop in live cattle futures.
Greg Henderson, editor Drovers CattleNetwork, agrees with the sentiment.
“Fed cattle supplies are steady, but demand remains relatively soft and wholesale beef prices are weaker. Retail prices are historically high, which creates a challenge to keep beef moving through the system. Domestic demand remains the key to pushing cash cattle prices higher.”
Each week CattleNetwork awards a $100 gift certificate from Cabela's courtesy of Intervet/Schering Plough to the industry leader whose forecast comes closest to the 5-Area cash trade number reported by the USDA. The most recent winner was Dan Hammond of Snake River.
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