Brett Wessler, Staff Writer   |   Updated: September 11, 2012

The cash cattle market is expected to remain steady with last week and could move higher with traders expecting to see 20,000 fewer total animals for sale compared with the previous week. The Monday Market Sentiment reveals industry experts are anticipating higher prices in the cash market. This week’s forecast shows an increase of 86 cents to $124.38 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. Last week prices increased for the second consecutive week. The USDA announced that cash trade for the week was $123.52, a $1.84 improvement over the previous week. The cash market has jumped $3.20 over the past two weeks.

Packers may be hesitant to bid for cattle as they continue to see unprofitable margins and orders are expected to be limited as grocers are hesitant to stock large quantities of beef at elevated prices.

Each week Drovers CattleNetwork 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 Joe Kovanda, Bartlett Cattle.

Join our team of industry professionals to predict this week's cash trade. Click here for contest rules. Click here to register.