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DTN Early Word Livestock Comments      08/31 06:08
   Consumer Doubts Over Imported Meat

   The cattle news cycle brought a lot of fireworks last week, and much of the
same is expected this week. Uncertainty remains in all protein contracts as the
market weighs additional shipments of ground beef at discounted prices.

Robin Schmahl
DTN Contributing Analyst

   Cattle: Lower          Futures: Mixed      Live Equiv: $277.19 -$2.13*

   Hogs: Higher            Futures: Mixed     Lean Equiv: $103.07 +$2.25**

   *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:

   Monday is the last trading day for the August live cattle contract. In
previous months, we've seen the market work to close the gap between cash
values and futures markets. Cattle markets are weighing the impact potential
from Trump's announcement last week, to allow tariff relief on imports of
ground beef. On one hand, the capacity of the amount we can realistically
increase imports on an already large import volume over the next 90 days. On
the other hand, what is imported will be sold at discounted prices, impacting
the cost of meat across the board. Then there is the matter of consumer bias,
as headlines of recalled product from earlier this month have been circulating
as well as doubts about the quality of the imported product. Like we have seen
in the lettuce market, consumers can lose faith in a product very quickly.