DTN Early Word Opening Livestock       09/03 05:25
   Beef, Pork Futures Set for Mixed, Lackluster Opening

   Meat contracts are expected to start out mixed in slow volume as traders
position before the Labor Day weekend. Early business should be a limited
combination of spillover buying interest and pre-holiday profit-taking.

By John Harrington
DTN Livestock Analyst

Cattle: Cash Steady/slow w/Wed Futures Mixed   Live Equiv $111.88 + .07*
Hogs:   Cash Steady-.50 HR     Futures Mixed   Lean Equiv $98.50 +1.65**
*   new formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue
**  new formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   For the second consecutive week, cattle market watchers have witnessed an
odd combination of light trade volume on one hand and aggressive chain speed on
the other. Clearly, packers have been drawing from more than negotiated sales
in order to fund ambitious beef production. That may be a bit of a puzzle, but
wherever the cattle are coming from, such an aggressive harvest is certainly
positive in terms of promoting feedlot currentness and country leverage. The
cash trade is probably done for the week, though we could see a few odds and
ends if producers with unsold cattle are willing to sell at midweek prices. But
late-week asking price should be a touch firmer in the wake of Thursday's rally
in futures. If asked, feedlot managers will probably price the balance of
showlists around $99-plus in the South and $155-plus in the North. Cattle
futures should open on a mixed basis thanks to a slow combination of residual
buying and late-week profit-taking.