Brett Wessler  |   February 7, 2012

A survey of cattle-industry leaders suggests the average price for cash cattle will decline slightly, falling $0.04 to $123.27 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’s prices decreased for the second consecutive week. Last week the USDA announced that cash trade for the week ending February 3rd was 123.31, a 55 cent decrease from the previous week.

Live cattle futures improved Monday, lifted by the Feb. 3 positive U.S. jobs data report, tight cattle supplies and higher beef prices.  Beef packers have slowed cattle slaughter in recent weeks to keep beef prices high and improve profit margins. Beef exports may be weakened by a stronger U.S. dollar.

Each week the Cattle Trader Center, on behalf of Vance Publishing, awards a $100 gift certificate from Cabela's to the industry leader whose forecast comes closest to the 5-Area cash trade number reported by the USDA. The most recent winner was Shelby Jones, Ranger Feeders.