Cold weather is hitting the upper Midwest and northern Plains which is going to have an impact on cattle weight gain and feed conversion. That’s worth noting given the dramatic counter seasonal average slaughter weights so far this year – a point we’ve commented on previously. Last week the average estimated slaughter weight went up again to 1,403 pounds. Typically, this is the time of year that weights start to trend down until they pick up again in May and June, but with a lot of long-fed cattle to move through, weights have stayed up. These heavy cattle create a little urgency to be moved through the value chain before they lose value, which will help cattle prices when front-supplies are tighter in Q2 when beef demand...