DTN Closing Livestock Comment 04/01 16:01
   Cattle Futures Continue Higher

   Follow-through buying support quickly and aggressively developed in all
cattle markets early Wednesday. Although prices backed away from initial early
gains, a higher close continues to build momentum during early April.

Rick Kment
DTN Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   Livestock futures continued to move higher again Wednesday, with active
support seen early in the session in feeder cattle trade. This helped to spark
follow-through buying in all live cattle contracts and eventually spilled over
to the lean hog complex, which posted gains in all nearby contracts at the
closing bell. Nearby live cattle and feeder cattle contracts closed over $1 per
cwt higher, but this is significantly lower than session highs, where nearby
feeder cattle were posting aggressive gains of $4 per cwt on the first trading
day of the month. Continued tight supplies of both beef and long-term cattle
numbers continue to limit bearish interest in the already red-hot cattle and
beef prices. Lean hog futures are holding the firm trading range seen over the
past month, but current market supplies are limiting further aggressive buying.
The pressure in the grain trade was driven by the softness in the wheat
complex, which created some uncertainty in most ag commodities at the end of
the day. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon hog report, down
$0.41 with a weighted average of $90.17 on 1,609 hogs. May corn closed down 3
1/2 at $4.543 and May soybean meal closed up $1.80 at $318.2. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average is up 224.23 at 46,565.74.