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)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.