Market Activity & Analysis

The Jacobsen Hide Index on Friday closed at $14.33 compared to $14.63 Friday the week prior. Big packer steer quotes included Heavy Native Steers from $26, Butt Branded Steers from $22 to $23, Branded Steers at $14, and Colorado Branded Steers at $11.50 and Heavy Texas Steers at $15 FOB plant.

The Week’s Slaughter Forecast

The Jacobsen slaughter forecast for this week is 640,000 head, and if realized, will be 13,300 head less than the same week last year when it was 653,300.

Cattle slaughter finished last week 633,000 head, down 2.1 percent from a year ago. Over the next six weeks, slaughter is forecast at an average of 643,300 head, up an average of 1.3 percent from the prior six weeks and up 0.7 percent compared to last year.

Figure 1.

Today’s Market

The US hide market opened the week with rising Heavy Native Steer prices. The light weight class traded at a high of $27, while the regular weight selections stayed within Friday’s ranges.

Today’s Trades

Packer Sales

HNS 60 MIN @ $27.00 OR 0.3500

Processor Sales

HNS 58/60 @ $18.50 OR 0.2450

Cured and Wet Blue Export Sales by Selected Countries  —  Through July 30

Figures 2 & 3.

Industry-Related News

August 8 (Los Angeles Times) – Drought continues to expland as the monsoon in the Southwest has been largely a no-show

Hot and dry conditions pushed portions of Arizona, southern Nevada and Southern California either into drought or further into drought, data from the U.S. Drought monitor show. The portion of California deemed  abnormally dry grew by almost 7%, mainly in eastern San Bernardino County. Large portions of Arizona and parts of southern Nevada slipped from abnormally dry into moderate drought, and severe drought expanded in southern Arizona. Northern California remained about the same, which is to say either in moderate or severe drought, with an area of extreme drought mostly confined to Siskiyou County up on the Oregon border. READ MORE

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