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Beef
Week Ending	1/4/08	12/28/07	Year Ago	% of Prior Week	% of Prior Year
Slaughter	528,000	483,000	526,000	109.3%	100.4%
Beef (million lbs)	412.6	379.9	411.0	108.6%	100.4%
Choice Value	148.05	147.69	146.26	100.2%	101.2%
Select Value	136.97	136.11	131.46	100.6%	104.2%
Choice/Select Spread	11.08	11.58	14.80	95.7%	74.9%
Dressed Steer Weight	849	858	871	99.0%	97.5%
Dressed Heifer Weight	763	768	765	99.3%	99.7%

Live Cattle
Week Ending	1/4/08	12/28/07	Year Ago	% of Prior Week	% of Prior Year
Live Steer Weight	1,320	1,330	1,321	99.2%	99.9%
Live Heifer Weight	1,189	1,202	1,195	98.9%	99.5%
5 Area Cattle Price	94.53	92.21	88.88	102.5%	106.4%
Nearby Cattle Futures	92.22	93.50	94.55	98.6%	97.5%

Grain
Week Ending	1/4/08	12/28/07	Year Ago	% of Prior Week	% of Prior Year
Nearby Corn Futures	4.67	4.52	3.62	103.3%	129.0%
Nearby Soybean Futures	12.49	12.08	6.63	103.4%	188.4%

Nexus eNote

· USDA raised its 2008 pork production forecast to 22.7 billion pounds from 22.2 billion that it forecasted in December. In 2007, pork production was estimated at 21.9 billion pounds. They also raised their 2008 export forecast to 3.685 billion pounds versus the 3.160 billion pounds forecasted in December. If feed costs continue to climb higher, the weight gains may begin to be limited which will ultimately affect pounds of pork production.

· By-product values are currently 5.7% higher than a year ago at $128.78/head. This increase is due to the strong demand for tallow and hides. This trend in the by-product price has helped prevent the packer losses from being even worse than they have been this fall and winter. By-product values should remain strong as long as energy costs remain high but what does this mean to cattle producers? Some researchers suggest that a 10% increase in by-product value can increase live cattle prices by 2.5%.

· USDA estimates that the price for live cattle in 2008 will range between $88 and $95 per cwt compared to the estimated $91.82 in 2007. Exports are expected to equal 1.71 billion pounds compared to 1.45 pounds in 2007.

· Approximately 5.4 billion bushels corn will need to be used in order to create the 36 billion gallons of ethanol that are part of the energy bill recently required by President Bush. Currently the U.S. has the ability to produce 7.2 billion gallons while additional plants with the ability to produce 6.2 gallons are currently under construction.

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