Pork bellies ended up sharply, live cattle settled mainly lower and feeder cattle posted session losses.

Lean hogs rose on the open fueled by short covering and spot-April and nearby-June's oversold Relative Strength Index conditions. Also, notions that Tuesday's futures tumble was exaggerated, and April's new contract low on Tuesday, motivated prospective bulls.

What's more, electronic-Chicago Board of Trade corn's recovery encouraged deferred-month speculative hog shoppers.

However, while depressed cash hog prices and spotty pre-Goldman roll activity ultimately erased earlier April advances, deep hog contracts maintained gains as CBOT feedgrains climbed as the morning progressed.

The Goldman roll involves funds moving some of their spot-April long positions into nearby-June. The first of five days for the roll period will officially start on March 7 and is done in conjunction with the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index.