Live Cattle Futures Trading Lower

February live cattle is trading at 118.25, down 0.45 cents/lb. April live cattle is trading at 117.07, down 0.50 cents/lb. June live cattle is trading at 106.75, down 0.42 cents/lb Live cattle futures are trading lower just after the open. Market chatter about cash prices and the USDA cattle of feed report due out after the close is making the rounds. Thursday's USDA cattle slaughter was 113,000 head. The total slaughter for the week is now 451,000 head versus a year ago at 445,000 head a year ago. Beef production for the week ending January 14th was 505.1 million pounds, up 10.1 percent from a year ago.