DTN Early Word Livestock Comments      03/28 06:48
   Hog Futures Should Find Support From Hogs and Pigs Report

   Live cattle traders gained renewed confidence and bought aggressively into
cattle futures Thursday. The April and June contracts closed at new highs,
anticipating higher cash. Hogs closed lower but near the day's highs after
prices regained early losses.

Robin Schmahl
DTN Contributing Analyst

   Cattle: Higher        Futures: Higher        Live Equiv: $245.02 -$0.66*

   Hogs: Higher         Futures: Higher        Lean Equiv: $100.62 -$0.81**

   *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:

   Traders decided cattle futures corrected sufficiently and became active
buyers Thursday. The April and June live cattle contracts closed at new
contract highs. Traders are bullish for cash this week. There have been no cash
trades with a higher bid passed Thursday, similar to last week. Feedlots are
holding out and packers need to step up and pay more or go home without any
cattle on the books. Boxed beef prices were mixed Thursday with choice down
$2.58 and select up $2.91, but that will have little influence on the market
Friday. Weekly export sales were low at only 8,000 metric tons (mt). However,
this did not influence the market as domestic demand is strong and prices
continue to increase. Feeder cattle futures did not exhibit the same strength
but followed live cattle higher. The demand in the country remains strong,
which could push futures to new highs.