WA_LS666 Des Moines, IA Thu, Feb 04, 2010 USDA Market News New Zealand Meat and Wool Export Summary and Prices BEEF: According to NZX Agrifax, despite bad weather in Texas forcing some cow processing plants to shut, the U.S. domestic cow price weakened this week. This pressured the U.S. imported cow price down 3c/lb. In part, the lower prices were due to the previous week's highs meeting resistance from buyers, hence demand subsided slightly. Australian slaughter figures are starting to show an increase and NZ's slaughter is normalizing. The U.S. imported cow spot market is expected to remain tight through February, keeping prices relatively firm. The strong overseas prices, combined with a 5% decline in the value of the NZ dollar against the U.S. dollar in the past two weeks, have both contributed to an average 5c/kg lift in schedule prices in both islands. LAMB: Lower volumes of product contracted for shipment prior to Christmas, and strong retailing for that period has left overseas frozen lamb inventories depleted. With Easter trading underway, buyers of frozen product are now required to complete with buyers of the higher value chilled product for supply, thus forcing prices up. With Eastern a week earlier this year, exporters are scrambling for product to fill chilled orders for this lucrative period, and this is sending schedule prices up. The result is a 5c-10c/kg life in schedule prices in both islands. Beef $/CWT Week Ending Week Ending 01/30/10 01/23/10 P2 Steer 542-595 lbs 95.26 96.16 (4-7 mm) 653-705 lbs 98.43 99.79 (Fat) 650-705 lbs 99.79 100.70 705-761 lbs 100.24 101.15 M Cow 375-430 lbs 64.86 63.05 (0-1 mm) 430-485 lbs 66.68 64.86 485-540 lbs 68.49 66.68 Bull 653-705 lbs 93.89 93.89 Lamb ($/Head) Fat Cover (mm) 24 lbs 0-6 19.61 19.83 33 lbs 7-12 45.73 45.66 46 lbs 7-12 62.53 62.65 Pelt 2 lb 0.37 0.38 Ewe ($/Head) 46 lbs 31.10 31.45 Wool (c/cwt clean) (microns) Fine 21 342.92 347.00 Medium 25 258.10 258.55 Coarse 35 112.49 114.76 Notes: All prices are U.S. Dollars. All meat prices are carcass based and net to farmers. Lamb values include a 1 kg shorn pelt. Ewe values at 0.5 kg pelt. Source: NZX AgriFax Limited, New Zealand 515-284-4460 http://www.ams.usda.gov/LSMarketNews 7:20 adr .