Reading Cattle Market Reports?

[Bucky]

Hi - I have a dumb question. I am new to watching the cattle market. I have been looking at the USDA Market news cattle reports. Each line looks something like this:

Feeder Steers
Head=11
Wt Range =455
Avg Wt = 455
Price Range= 141.00
Average Price= 141.00

So what is the seller getting per lb? If you do the math on this it is .31 cents a lb - am I doing something wrong? I thought prices were up around $1.00 a lb?

 

[dun]

The $141.00 is cwt (per hundred pounds), so the price is $1.41 a pound .

dun

 

[Bucky]

What Does CWT stand for?

Thanks-

 

[Beefy]

cwt means hundred weight. $141 cwt = $141/100 lbs = $1.41/lb

 

[Bucky]

Ahh, now the light comes on in my head, Thanks!

 

[Beefy]

welcome.

 

[Medic24]

Aaaaaaaaahhhh the light, I can see the light................Welcome to the boards bucky! Glad to have ya! :cboy:

 

[D Land]

I am also inexperienced at reading these reports. Could someone define the terms breaker, boner, and lean used to describe slaughter cows? Thanks.

 

[Beefy]

The order of beef quality grades, from the most desirable eating experience to the least, would be prime, choice, select, standard, commercial, utility, cutter and canner.
Breaker and Boner are like "subgrades" in the Utility grade for slaughter cattle. breaker is about 75% lean whereas boner is about 85% lean.