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Beef
Week Ending	12/28/07	12/21/07	Year Ago	% of Prior Week	% of Prior Year
Slaughter	483,000	657,000	525,000	73.5%	92.0%
Beef (million lbs)	379.9	519.5	413.0	73.1%	92.0%
Choice Value	147.69	149.29	143.44	96.1%	103.0%
Select Value	136.11	136.51	127.22	93.2%	107.0%
Choice/Select Spread	11.58	12.78	15.67	122.6%	73.9%
Dressed Steer Weight	858	867	882	99.0%	97.3%
Dressed Heifer Weight	768	764	786	100.5%	97.7%

Live Cattle
Week Ending	12/28/07	12/21/07	Year Ago	% of Prior Week	% of Prior Year
Live Steer Weight	1,330	1,345	1,334	98.9%	99.7%
Live Heifer Weight	1,202	1,204	1,227	99.8%	98.0%
5 Area Cattle Price	92.21	90.94	87.94	101.4%	104.9%
Nearby Cattle Futures	93.50	92.10	89.67	101.5%	104.3%

Grain
Week Ending	12/28/07	12/21/07	Year Ago	% of Prior Week	% of Prior Year
Nearby Corn Futures	4.52	4.43	3.88	102.0%	116.5%
Nearby Soybean Futures	12.08	11.77	6.76	102.6%	178.7%

Nexus eNote

· As leading meteorologists look ahead to 2008, they see La Nina as playing a factor in the cattle market. Many states affected by a drought in 2007 are expected to see the drought continue in 2008. Cow-calf herds in the south may be particularly hard hit. The Midwest and plains states could see drier than normal conditions for much of the winter, spring and even in to the summer. This will be of particular concern during the growing season for wheat, corn, soybeans and hay; especially when commodity prices are already reflecting great demand amongst food, feed and ethanol industries.

· HedgersEdge.com’s Andy Gottschalk com0mented recently on the anticipated switch from corn acres to soybeans and wheat. He suggests that a 25 bushel per acre difference in the average corn yield could be the difference between corn being priced at $3.50 and $5.00 because production is so close to expected demand.

· Iowa State University researchers project that if corn prices average near $4.50 in 2008, retail prices for meat will increase 7.5%.

· The demand for food animal vets will increase by 12% by 2016 but the Food Supply Veterinary Medicine Coalition expects that there will be a 5% shortage in filling those jobs each year. Large animal vets are typically paid about $7,000 less in their first year immediately following vet school that vets that treat small animals. In the long-run, salaries are similar. However, in order to fill this growing need, more scholarships are being offered as are programs that help reduce tuition debt for students who go on to treat large animals.

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