DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 03/29 06:04

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 03/29 06:04 Meat Futures Staged for Firm Opening Lean hog futures should open moderately higher, supported by follow-through buying and friendly implications of the Hogs & Pigs report. The cattle complex seem geared to begin on a firm basis thanks to short-covering and signs of recovering wholesale beef sales. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: 10-30 HR Live Equiv $151.32 + $1.05* Hogs: Steady-$1 HR Futures: 25-50 HR Lean Equiv $ 81.02 + $1.03 ** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Look for another round of slow activity in feedlot country Tuesday morning with both bids and asking prices poorly defined. While most plants are quite short bought, significant trade volume is not likely to develop until Wednesday or Thursday (at the earliest). Hoping that futures can somewhat manage to stage a meaningful recovery, feedlot managers will remain reluctant to price showlists. Our guess is that producers will start out pricing ready steers and heifers around $140 in the South and $220 to $222 plus in the North. Live and feeder futures are set to open moderately higher, supported by short-covering and ideas of steady/firm feedlot sales by the end of the week.