Live Cattle Futures Trading Higher

December live cattle is trading at 101.00 , up 0.87 cents/lb. February live cattle is trading at 101.77, up 0.52 cents/lb. Live cattle futures are trading choppy. Dressed steer weights for the week ending October 8th were at 911 pounds, up from 909 the previous week and down from 928 pounds a year ago. Beef production for the week of October 8th was 512.8 million pounds, up 9.4 percent versus a year ago. USDA cattle slaughter on Thursday was 110,000 head, the total for the week is 455,000 head versus 442,000 head last year at this time. Chatter about the upcoming USDA cattle on feed report and consumer demand is making the rounds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Cattle on Feed Report and Cold Storage report are due out at 3:00 p.m. ET.