LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
December 02 2019 - 05:31PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
CFIA Cancels Licenses of Three Meat Companies, Concludes E.coli
Investigation
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it cancelled the Safe
Food for Canadians licenses of three meat companies, which
previously had licenses suspended, saying the agency received false
or misleading information concerning E.coli results.
The move affects Ryding-Regency Meat Packers Ltd., Canadian
Select Meats Inc. (operating under St. Ann's Foods Inc.) and Beef
Boutique Ltd. (operating under St. Ann's Foods Inc.).
Beef and Tofurky Encroach on Tradition -- Overheard
Not everyone in America showed up to work Monday with leftover
turkey in their lunchbox.
Despite its traditional tie to the Thanksgiving holiday -- none
other than Alexander Hamilton supposedly said that "no citizen of
the U.S. shall refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day" -- other
meats are encroaching on the flightless bird's turf. Last year,
research firm Nielsen reported that U.S. sales of turkey meat in
the month through Nov. 24 had dropped by 7% from a year earlier,
even as beef sales had risen by 7%.
STORIES OF INTEREST
McDonald's Testing Crispy Chicken Sandwich in Two Markets --
CNBC
--McDonald's Corp. (MCD) is testing the Crispy Chicken Sandwich
in the Houston and Knoxville markets, CNBC reported.
The Water Wars that Defined the American West Are Heading
East
CAMILLA, Ga. -- Water stress, a hallmark of the American West,
is spreading east.
The shift is evident on Casey Cox's family farm in Georgia's
agricultural heartland, where she turned on five giant rotating
sprinklers to see her sweet corn through weeks of hot, dry weather
last spring.
"If we hadn't had irrigation, our crop would have burned up
completely," said Ms. Cox, who with her father also produces
soybeans, peanuts and timber on 2,400 acres.
Kroger Launching On-demand Meal Delivery In Three Cities --
MarketWatch
Kroger Co. (KR) said Monday that it's launching the Kroger
Delivery Kitchen, an on-demand meal delivery service, in Carmel,
Ind., Indianapolis and Columbus, Oh. Kroger has partnered with
ClusterTruck, a software platform that operates delivery-only
kitchens, to provide the service, which will also operate in Denver
through the King Soopers Delivery Kitchen. Through this service,
shoppers can order a meal that is prepared and delivered in less
than 30 minutes. Among the items on the menu in Columbus are a
chilled Vietnamese noodle bowl with steak, Buffalo chicken wrap and
a taco salad. Kroger stock is down 7% over the past year while the
S&P 500 index is up 13.1% for the period.
-Tonya Garcia
FUTURES MARKETS
Hog Futures Finish Day 3% Lower -- Market Talk
15:39 ET - Hog futures on the CME drop 3%, at 66.15 cents per
pound. In the past month, hog futures have fallen 11.6%, as pork
supplies in the US continue to pile up while Chinese demand for US
exports remains far below what was expected for this time of year.
Live cattle futures also fall 0.3% to $1.258 per pound--although in
cattle's case, prices are still higher since the spring, as supply
looks tighter amid stronger demand. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com;
@kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Dec 2
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Dec 2 +$ 78.35 +$ 47.42
Nov 29 +$ 77.72 +$ 44.65
Nov 27 +$ 73.32 +$ 40.41
* 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 109.4
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 107.3
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday rose 49 cents per
hundred pounds, to $232.61, according to the USDA. Select-grade
prices rose $2.64 per hundred pounds, to $212.98. The total load
count was 83. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.29, to $82.46 a hundred
pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 02, 2019 17:16 ET (22:16 GMT)
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