Cattle slaughter is forecast at an average of 648,800 per week over the next four weeks ahead of the Thanksgiving break, which is 2 percent under year-ago levels. Slaughter is expected to remain under year-ago levels over the next six weeks at an average of 640,000 head, down 1.1 percent from last year and down 1.4 percent from the prior six week average. While the production is expected to trend under the prior year’s levels, production is still strong at numbers well over 640,000 head. The trend…