 At midday, choice box beef is down $1.18 at $3.1808 and select was $1.76 lower at $2.9983. The estimated cattle slaughter of 121,000 head was down 1,000 on the week and just over 1,000 on the year. As for hogs, national direct barrels and gilts opened 12 cents lower with a weighted average of $84.76 with moderate negotiated sales.