The estimated weekly slaughter total last week was 623,000 head, a significant reduction from the prior week, thanks, in part, to the three-day weekend.
Weekly slaughter head counts are key data points gauging feedyard currentness and record boxed beef values this spring. Outcomes in those two, while both dependent on slaughter rate, are working at odds with each other.
Cash fed cattle prices were lower $1 to $2/cwt. last week, arriving at an average just below $121/cwt. Futures weakness brought prices lower, despite the severe upward trajectory of carcass cutout values.
Cattle and beef markets have been a flurry of activity since the last CAB Insider with many positive market indicators sending fed cattle and cutout values rapidly higher.
Federally inspected weekly slaughter has fallen in the past three weeks 20,000 to 25,000 head below late Feb. and early March levels. Cleaning and plant maintenance is the primary factor for the smaller head counts.
Federally inspected weekly slaughter totaled 18,000 head fewer than the prior week. That was mainly because one packing plant was dark on Friday and possibly Saturday for cooler cleaning.
The two weeks in the middle of the month marked by extreme weather and insufficient fed cattle to harvest-space put a cap on cattle prices as packers found themselves well-supplied.
Jan. fed cattle prices are normally choppy and we’re seeing that pattern in 2021. A primary difference, compared to 2020, is that last week’s average price is $14/cwt. lower, the same discount as the 5-year average.
