DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 08/05 06:23

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 08/05 06:23 Limited Volatility Expected Cash cattle managed to trade higher Thursday but had limited impact on futures. There seems to be guarded interest in anticipating higher cash with traders mainly waiting until it develops. Hogs reacted to the strong cash on Wednesday and good export sales. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv: $196.19 -$1.02* Hogs: Lower Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $132.87 -$0.69** *Based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue. (The Live Cattle Equiv. 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: It was supportive to see cash cattle trade higher Thursday. Slaughter pace has been strong, and packers needed to turn a bit more aggressive to ensure sufficient supply. Lighter weights require more animals to obtain the required tonnage. It is possible packers were willing to bid higher to maintain a certain amount of forward contracted cattle in order to minimize having to be very aggressive over the next few weeks. Cash traded $1.00 higher in the South with Northern cattle $2.00 to $3.00 higher. Boxed beef prices were weaker again with choice down $1.66 and select down $0.95. Weekly export sales were nothing to write home about with sales totaling 12,000 metric tons (mt), down 52% from the previous week. China was not listed as one of the top five buyers. They had been a consistent buyer for quite some time.