DTN Early Word Livestock Comments      03/13 06:10
   Livestock Futures May See Pressure Ahead of the Weekend

   Cattle futures made a valiant effort to regain the losses, but the buying
interest was not sufficient to accomplish the task. Lower cash cattle trade and
the upcoming strike kept gains limited. Hogs opened lower and remained lower
throughout the day. The trend has turned negative.

Robin Schmahl
DTN Contributing Analyst

   Cattle: Lower           Futures: Mixed      Live Equiv: $291.07 +$0.53*

   Hogs: Lower             Futures: Lower     Lean Equiv: $106.32 +$1.88**

   *Based on the formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer
revenue. (The Live Cattle Equiv. The index has been updated to depict recent
changes in live cattle weights and grading percentages.)

   ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue.

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   Cash cattle traded on Thursday following the trend of lower cash on
Wednesday. Cash traded from $3.00 to $8.00 lower on Thursday. This pattern will
be followed today as business will be accomplished for the week. It was a bit
surprising that futures were higher with lower cash trade and the JBS plant
strike taking place on Monday. These are not friendly fundamentals. However,
some buying interest may have resulted from good beef export sales totaling
25,400 metric tons (mt), which is the highest so far this year. Packers
continue to slow the slaughter pace, which is increasing boxed beef prices.
Choice boxed beef was up $0.39, with select up $1.57. It may be an interesting
and volatile day as traders position themselves ahead of the weekend.