* USDA quarterly hog report on tap for Friday
* CME live cattle fall on deliveries, spreads
* Feeders follow live cattle futures lower
By Theopolis Waters
CHICAGO, June 28 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog
futures dropped on Friday pressured by profit taking and sharply
lower Chicago Board of Trade corn futures, traders and analysts
said.
CBOT corn spiraled downward in response to
larger-than-expected U.S. Department of Agriculture acreage
estimates.
Cattle and hog producers may feed more livestock and fatten
them to heavier weights if corn becomes more affordable.
Anticipation of cash hog and wholesale pork prices topping
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out contributed to hog futures' losses.
CME hogs in after-hours trading are poised to finish
the month up over 6.0 percent and gain nearly 26.0 percent for
the quarter.
Pit-traded CME July hogs settled down 0.700 cent per
lb to 101.275 cents. August closed at 97.450 cents, or
1.950 cents lower.
Investors await USDA's quarterly hog report on Friday at 2
p.m. CDT (1900 GMT).
Analysts expect the report to show the U.S. hog herd likely
grew modestly in the March-May quarter as feed costs subsided.
CATTLE BOW TO DELIVERIES, SPREADS
CME live cattle posted losses with deliveries sending
spot-June down by its 3-cents daily price limit before it
expired at noon CDT (1700 GMT), analysts and traders said.
August live cattle, the new lead contract, buckled as
traders sold the contract and bought deferred months.
And some investors sold far live cattle months as corn
prices tumbled.
Live cattle at the CME are set to end down almost 3.0
percent for the month and over 8.0 lower for the quarter.
Spot June settled down 3.000 cent per lb to 118.150
cents.
Most-actively traded August closed 0.900 cent lower
at 122.025 cents.
Futures faded despite steady cash cattle prices. Processors
kept a floor beneath cattle after buying sparingly in recent
weeks.
But packers were hesitant to spend more than they had to for
supplies with plants scheduled to be dark at least one day for
the U.S. July 4th holiday.
Cash cattle in Texas and Kansas moved at $120 per
hundredweight (cwt) which was roughly steady with a week ago,
said feedlot sources.
Lower CME live cattle and profit taking undercut feeder
cattle futures.
CME feeder cattle were up almost 4.0 for the month
and showed a more than 10.0 percent increase for the quarter.
August settled down 0.250 cent per lb to 149.450
cents. September was at 151.600 cents, or 0.225 cent
lower.
(Reporting by Theopolis Waters; Editing by Grant McCool)
LIVESTOCK-Profit taking and cheap corn sink U.S. hog futures
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