DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 05/03 06:17

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 05/03 06:17 Further Strength Likely in Cattle Friday Cattle futures received positive news from numerous avenues Thursday, pushing contracts higher. Maybe traders can put the avian flu concerns behind them for now. Hog futures struggled throughout Thursday, resulting in a mixed close. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Higher Futures: Higher Live Equiv: $216.91 -$0.39* Hogs: Higher Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $103.70 -$0.11** *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: Cattle had a strong open and higher trade throughout Thursday. Initial support came from good beef exports totaling 22,500 metric tons (mt), which was a marketing year high. Then there was the announcement that no avian flu matter was found in ground beef that had been tested. On top of that, cash cattle began trading $1.00 to $2.00 higher. What was there not to like about the fundamental news? Traders supported the market aggressively, but maybe not as aggressively as one would have thought based on not finding traces of avian flu in ground beef. There remains the matter of consumer perception and whether this will put the concern of the avian flu in beef behind us. It certainly is a step in the right direction. The weakness of boxed beef remains a concern with choice down $0.64 and select down $0.09.