Brett Wessler  |   January 24, 2012

A survey of cattle-industry leaders suggests the average price for cash cattle will decrease 87 cents to $123.86 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 second consecutive week. Last week the USDA announced that cash trade for the week $125.73, a $2.65 increase from a week earlier.

Packers turned aggressive late last week to push cash fed cattle prices $2 to $4 per hundredweight higher. Boxed beef prices fell lower on light demand.

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 Scott Foote, Hoxie Feedyard.