Steer hide trading today was down 50 cents from Friday’s close. The downward movement followed buyer resistance to pay current market levels and the anticipation of reduced hide quality coming from winter hides. 

Historically, winter hides have the worst grading of the year because of the harsh weather conditions for US cattle. Buyers typically build their inventories prior to the months of January and February to have better quality material in stock. Following the historically poor quality of hides last year, buyers are concerned that this year could be similar.

Cattle Slaughter Forecast

Cattle slaughter is forecast by The Jacobsen at 640,000 head this week, up 1.3 percent from last week but down 4.52 percent from last year. Cattle slaughter finished last week at an estimated 632,000 head, down 0.63 percent from the week prior and down 5.52 percent from last year. Over the next six weeks, slaughter…