LIVESTOCK-CME hog futures end lower, extending retreat from contract highs

CHICAGO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) closed mostly lower on Monday, with the benchmark April contract LHJ26 falling for a third straight session after setting a life-of-contract high last week.

CME April hogs LHJ26 settled down 1.225 cents at 96.725 cents per pound. Front-month February hogs LHG26 closed down 0.275 cent at 87.100 cents but stayed above the CME's Lean Hog Index .IHX, a two-day weighted average of cash prices, which was last at 86.57 cents.

Commodity funds hold a sizable net long position in CME hog futures, leaving the market prone to bouts of long liquidation. Friday's weekly commitments report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed managed funds expanded their net long in CME hog futures to 123,396 contracts in the week ended February 3, up 13,859 lots, or 12.65%, from the prior week.

Wholesale pork values ticked higher. The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced pork carcasses on Monday afternoon at $95.83 per hundredweight, up $2.06 from Friday.

Cattle futures rose, supported by tight U.S. cattle supplies. CME April live cattle futures LCJ26 settled up 0.950 cent at 238.200 cents per pound, with the June contract LCM26 up 0.475 cent at 234.325 cents.

CME March feeder cattle futures FCH26 finished up 0.025 cent at 367.450 cents.

After the market closed, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA opened a facility in southern Texas to release sterile flies to combat the New World screwworm parasite, which has been found in Mexican livestock. The USDA has halted U.S. imports of Mexican cattle to prevent the pest from entering, worsening a cattle shortage that has pushed beef prices to record highs for consumers.

The USDA currently produces 100 million sterile flies per week at a facility in Panama and disperses them in Mexico to prevent wild screwworm flies from reproducing.

The USDA will open a facility in Texas by the end of next year to produce the sterile flies, Rollins said on Monday.