* Feeder futures follow live cattle lower
    * CME hogs settle firm after wild ride
    * U.S. beef exports in July highest so far in 2013, pork up

    By Theopolis Waters
    CHICAGO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live
cattle futures slid on Thursday in anticipation of steady to
weak cash prices, analysts and traders said.
    Sell stops exacerbated futures' losses in response to the
pullback in wholesale beef prices.
    CME live cattle October and December ended
0.775 cent lower at 125.225 cents and 129.125 cents,
respectively.
    Cash cattle bids stood at $121 per hundredweight (cwt)
against $125 asking prices from sellers, feedlot sources said.
	

		

			
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    Last week, cash cattle in Texas and Kansas moved at mostly
$123 per cwt, and $124 in Nebraska.
    Packers may have enough pre-contracted cattle to avoid
spending more for supplies on the open market, traders said. And
processors are less likely to raise cash bids given tepid beef
demand, they said.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture quoted the wholesale
choice beef price Thursday morning at $196.14 per cwt, down 42
cents from Wednesday. Select cuts dipped 14 cents to $181.99.
    The prospect that less costly feed might prompt ranchers to
increase the size of their herds dragged down far CME live
cattle contracts.
    Chicago Board of Trade new-crop December corn futures closed
down 8-1/2 cents per bushel at $4.61 amid expectations for a
record-large fall harvest.
    USDA monthly export data showed beef in July at 264.6
million lbs, the highest so far this year. It was up 12.9
percent from June, and up 14.7 percent from the same period a
year earlier.
   "We are focusing our resources there (Asian markets) to
maximize opportunities to serve the growing demand in the
region," U.S. Meat Export Federation president and CEO Philip
Seng said in a statement.
    CME feeder cattle fell on technical selling and the lower
live cattle market.
	

		

			
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    September feeders closed at 156.750 cents, down
0.275 cent, while October ended 0.450 cent lower at
158.800 cents.

    HOGS FIRM AFTER VOLATILE SESSION    
    CME hogs maintained some of their early session gains helped
by futures' discount to the exchange's hog index, which was at
91.77 cents, traders and analysts said. 
    October hogs closed 0.275 cent higher at 89.400
cents per lb, but down from its new contract high of 90.525
cents. 
    December settled up 0.075 cent at 85.925 cents after
posting a new contract high of 87.200 cents.
    CME hogs vacillated throughout the morning, stirred by cash
hog and wholesale pork values that turned lower on Thursday
after both markets rose late on Wednesday.
    USDA on Thursday morning quoted the average hog price in the
most watched Iowa/Minnesota market at $87.41 per cwt, $2.93
lower than on Wednesday.
    Some packers need hogs for a big Saturday slaughter to make
up for Monday's holiday downtime. Other hog buyers balked at
raising cash bids in the midst of a seasonal increase in
supplies.
    Thursday morning's government data showed the wholesale pork
price, or cutout, at $95.50 per cwt, down $2.35 from Wednesday. 
    The cutout was largely pressured by the $8.57 plunge in
prices for pork bellies, which are made into bacon, as the
	

		

			
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summer bacon-lettuce-tomato season winds down.
    Spread traders bought nearby hog futures and sold deferred
months with the view that cheaper corn might lead to increased
production.
    U.S. pork exports in July were at 406.6 million lbs, up 1.9 
percent from the previous month and up 2.1 percent from July
2013.
   Pork exports were led by the continued rebound of the Mexican
market and strong variety meat demand in the China/Hong Kong
region, said USMEF's Seng.
 

 (Editing by Peter Galloway)