* CME live cattle drop with beef prices
    * Feeder cattle futures settle mixed

    By Theopolis Waters
    CHICAGO, July 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog
futures on Tuesday rose in anticipation of hot weather in the
U.S. Plains pushing up cash hog prices, traders and analysts
said.
    Hot humid weather tends to slow hog weight gains, resulting
in fewer animals available for packers and less fresh pork for
grocers.
    CME's hog index, at 102.51 cents, fueled August buying. And
nearby hog futures led advances, driven by short-covering and
fund buying.
    August closed 0.750 cent higher at 96.300 cents,
	

		

			
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above the 10-day moving average of 95.970 cents.
    October finished 0.650 cent higher at 85.350 cents,
above the 20-day moving average of 85.138 cents.
    Futures climbed despite packers cutting cash hog bids to
improve their margins. Also, high heat and humidity dampened
outdoor cookouts, which pressured the pork cutout.
    U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed the average hog
price on Tuesday morning in the most-watched Iowa/Minnesota hog
market at $95.88 per hundredweight (cwt), $1.84 lower than on
Monday.
    Tuesday morning's USDA mandatory wholesale pork price
report, or cutout, calculated on a plant-delivered basis, was at
$101.00 per cwt, down 10 cents from Monday.
    Tuesday's Chicago Board of Trade corn price spike generated
deferred-month hog futures buying. Expensive corn may cause
producers to feed fewer animals and nourish them to lighter
weight.
    The prospect that the deadly Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea
(PEDv) virus could reduce hog supplies this winter underpinned
the December 2013 contract, traders and analysts said.
   
    LIVE CATTLE DOWN WITH BEEF DEMAND
    Sluggish wholesale demand and cash cattle price uncertainty
dragged on CME live cattle, said analysts and traders.
    The government Tuesday morning reported the wholesale price
of choice beef at $190.40 per hundredweight (cwt), down 30 cents
from Monday. Select cuts slipped 14 cents to $183.80.
	

		

			
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    "We're in the summer doldrums where heat is hurting beef
demand. And we should get into bigger cattle supplies in the
short-term," U.S. Commodities analyst Don Roose said.
    Packer margins are profitable enough to underpin cash
prices. But slowed wholesale beef demand might force processors
to cut slaughter rates and reduce cash spending.
    There were no cash cattle bids or asking prices reported by
feedlot sources. Cash cattle last week in the U.S. Plains moved
at $119 to $120 per cwt, steady with the week before.
    August live cattle finished at 122.125 cents, down
0.325 cent per lb. October closed at 126.400 cents, or
0.275 cent lower.
    Corn futures' rally and profit-taking weighed on August CME
feeder cattle. Firm deferred-month live cattle and prospects for
tighter feeder cattle supplies lifted remaining contracts.
    August CME feeder cattle closed at 152.550 cents,
down 0.100 cent per lb.
    September settled at 155.275 cents, up 0.125 cent,
and October ended at 157.100 cents, or up 0.275 cent.

 (Editing by John Wallace)