LIVESTOCK-Live cattle futures hit contract highs on cash market strength

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, April 6 (Reuters) - Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) climbed on Monday, driven by robust cash cattle markets as meat packers ramped up beef production ahead of the summer grilling season, analysts said.

"It is post-Easter, and intentions are to increase production schedules over the next three months as the market heads into a strong seasonal demand period," Cassie Fish, an analyst and industry expert, said on The Beef, a blog.

CME June live cattle LCM26 settled up 0.700 cent at 247.025 cents per pound after notching a life-of-contract high of 248.460 cents.

April cattle LCJ26 peaked at 248.750 cents, an all-time high on a continuous chart of the front LCc1 live cattle contract.

CME May feeder cattle futures FCK26 ended down 0.275 cent at 370.350 cents per pound.

Slaughter-ready cattle traded in Texas and Kansas cash markets last week as high as $246 per hundredweight, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, sharply higher than last week as meat packers sought fresh supplies of cattle for processing.

Meanwhile, workers at a JBS beef plant in Greeley, Colorado, agreed to return to work after the company agreed to resume negotiations, bringing a three-week picket to an end, their union said in a statement on Saturday.

The daily U.S. cattle slaughter pace should increase as the Colorado plant returns to operation, Fish said.

Wholesale beef prices firmed slightly. The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef at $388.04 per cwt on Monday afternoon, up 26 cents from Friday's near one-month low of $387.78.

Select cuts were up $2.18 at $388.37, at a rare premium to choice cuts.

CME lean hog futures rose. The benchmark June contract LHM26 settled up 3.225 cents at 107.700 cents per pound, just below chart resistances at its 50-day moving average near 107.800 cents.