The finished cattle trade was lower this week with fewer cash sales.
The weekly weighted average cash steer price for the five area which includes TX, NE, CO, KS and IA feeding areas was 3.47 lwr at 105.89.
The cash dressed steer price was 167.09 compared to 169.89 the prev week which was 2.80 lwr. The five area total cash str and hfr volume was 39,700 head compared to 96,000 the previous week.
Five area formula sales totaled 201,000 hd compared to 202,000 the prev week. The five area avg formula price was 170.83 compared to 172.56 the prev week which was 1.73 lower
Nationally reported forward contracted cattle harvested was 49,000 hd compared to 49,000 hd the previous week. Packers have 219,000 head of Forward contracts available for Sep and 227,000 head for Oct.
The latest avg National steer carcass weight for week ending Sep 10 was 5 hgr at 903 lbs compared to 919 lbs last yr. We’re still 19 wks in a row lower than last yr but still following normal fall wt increases that last until the end of Oct due mostly to cooler weather and better feedlot performance. However last year we were going up a lot faster than this year.
Choice-Select spread was 8.00 on Friday about 20 cents hgr than the prev wk but that compared to 2.43 spread last yr. The Choice primal rib jumped 4 to 5 dollars which helped to widen the spread because of the cooler weather and grilling demand.
***** The national steer and heifer grading report for WE 9/17 was 75.5 % Ch and Prime compared to 73.8 % last year, which was 1.7 % hgr than last year with a bigger FIS harvest numbers.