TOP STORIES

Smithfield Says It's Made Great Strides in Sustainability -- Market Talk

14:07 ET - Smithfield Foods, which is owned by WH Group, says it's made great strides in sustainability in areas like animal welfare, supply chain and employee safety. Smithfield's 2018 sustainability report discusses achievements including maintaining group housing for all pregnant sows on company-owned farms. Smithfield set a goal to reduce solid waste to landfill by 75% and achieve zero-waste-to-landfill certification at 75% of its US facilities by 2025. Its efforts have included work with the Environmental Defense Fund, such as a collaboration started in 2014 to reduce fertilizer runoff. In October, Smithfield expanded a "manure-to-energy" plan that involves covering lagoons to capture biogas. (josh.beckerman@wsj.com)

STORIES OF INTEREST

Kroger Joins Reusable Product Pilot -- Market Talk

11:56 ET - Kroger becomes one of the first large US grocers to offer a reusable consumer products service that Nestle, Unilever, P&G and other major brands have begun to back as consumer become more worried about plastics. Brands that participate in the Loop system allow consumers to ship back their empty product containers and have them refilled. Kroger is starting the service online in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C., but hopes to eventually roll it out to stores. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

Grain Supplies Likely Hit If Farmers Turn to Payouts

American farmers, hampered by cold, wet weather across the Midwest and grappling with the fallout of the U.S.-China trade standoff, are looking at taking insurance payouts instead of planting their crops -- which may take a large bite out of next year's U.S. agricultural supplies.

Many farmers take out crop insurance each year that includes a prevent-planting clause, which promises modest payouts if the seeds can't be sown. While these payments don't fully replace the income farmers would receive from selling their crops, they do provide farmers with an incentive not to plant muddy fields with soybeans and grains that might garner low prices at harvest time.

McDonald's Workers Raise Sexual Harassment Charges -- Market Talk

08:24 ET - More McDonald's workers are accusing the company of failing to respond to sexual harassment incidents in its locations, and filing suit or US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints, according to unions. Organizations such as the Fight for $15 first levied charges three years ago, with 25 more workers now making claims. Sexual harassment in restaurants has been more of a focus since the Me Too movement. McDonald's says its implemented anti-harassment measures. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

For Cranswick, China Pig Woes Bring Fortune: Peel Hunt -- Market Talk

1306 GMT - U.K. food-producer Cranswick stands to benefit from the havoc wrought on Chinese pig herds by African swine flu, Peel Hunt says. The brokerage estimates that the virus has reduced pig numbers in China by more than 30%, and this has led to a 40% increase in pig prices, which are set to raise by a further 50%-100% in 2H. Peel Hunt says that Cranswick's bottom line will benefit from higher Chinese prices, though this will be partially offset by the need to recover price increases in the U.K. and Europe. (carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com)

FUTURES MARKETS

Allendale Forecasts Record Cattle-on-Feed Figures -- Market Talk

15:26 ET - Allendale is forecasting a record total of cattle on feed to be indicated in Friday's USDA report-totaling 11.886M head as of May 1, according to the firm. Allendale says this would be 2.8% higher than the same time last year--and would be the highest May 1 figure since the report started in 1996. Placements, meanwhile, are expected at 1.914M head through April, up 12.9% from last year and also the highest since 1996. The higher supply explains the downward trend for cattle, which falls 0.5% to $1.10850 per pound on the CME today. The contract has now fallen for 18 out of the last 22 sessions, dropping by 9.5% since April 22. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - May 21 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
May 21       +$  2.43            +$ 54.60 
May 20       +$  1.85            +$ 53.16 
May 17       -$  3.01            +$ 50.54 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                 Beef 
          For Today             Choice   95.1 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select   99.5 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Tuesday fell $1.87 per hundred pounds, to $219.58, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $1.45 per hundred pounds, to $206.58. The total load count was 138. Wholesale pork prices rose 67 cents, to $85.80 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 21, 2019 17:44 ET (21:44 GMT)