DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 09/14 06:21

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 09/14 06:21 Railroad Shutdown Concerns Dominate Markets Cattle struggled with live cattle not seeing any cash activity and concern over inflation as well as the impact from a possible rail strike. Feeder cattle fell despite the slight decline of corn. Hogs finally saw some aggressive packer buying with cash up nearly $10.00. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv: $190.98 -$1.46* Hogs: Higher Futures: Higher Lean Equiv: $112.54 -$0.94** *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: Traders did not wait for cash to trade before setting some price direction. The concern over the economy with the Consumer Price Index released Tuesday at 8.3% with the food component of the CPI increasing 11.4% and the fastest rate of increase since April 1979, put pressure on cattle. On top of that is the possible railway shutdown on Friday which could increase food prices substantially and hinder feed movement to feedlots. Feed prices could increase significantly for what is available. Even if the strike is averted, some steps have already been taken to wind down shipments of certain items, which would require a period of time to get that up and running again due to the complex scheduling system. Feedlots may need to move cattle more aggressively in the near term. Packers have floated some lower bids so far, indicating their unwillingness to be aggressive with demand uncertainty. Boxed beef declined with choice down $2.28 and select down $2.18.