MON Monsanto Company (delisted)

TOP STORIES

Farmers Take to Airwaves to Sway Trump on Trade -- Market Talk

0600 ET--A farm group is launching a $500K television ad buy largely aimed at an audience of one--President Donald Trump--on the subject of trade. Farmers for Free Trade this week will begin airing a TV spot featuring Montana farmer Michelle Erickson-Jones calling on President Trump to maintain trade policies that underpin the U.S. agricultural economy, while warning that "policies that restrict trade would be devastating for farms like ours." The ad is set to air during shows like Fox News' "Fox and Friends" and MSNBC's "Morning Joe," with additional advertising aimed for websites and rural media outlets. ( jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

China Approves Bayer's Plan to Buy Monsanto With Conditions

BEIJING--China's Commerce Ministry said Tuesday it has approved Bayer AG's plan to buy Monsanto Co. but the buyer will have to spin off some assets, among other conditions.

The Chinese government started the antitrust review early last year and concluded that the German firm must dispose its global vegetable-seeds business and other seeds assets, the Ministry of Commerce said.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Funds Gobble Up Corn, Soybean Futures

Corn and soybean futures rose Tuesday as funds extended bets on an improving global supply outlook.

Markets started the week with a stutter after regulatory data showed money managers were piling into bets that corn and soybean prices were headed higher. While that sparked some caution on Monday, analysts said funds had by Tuesday returned to the markets as buyers.

Shortest La Nina in a Decade Ends, Damage Done to Soymeal -- Market Talk

18:50 GMT - Just three months after it started, the La Nina weather system has finished, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. La Nina is characterized by cooler waters in tropical Pacific Ocean regions, which results in more precipitation in Southeast Asia and eastern Australia, and drier weather in southern Brazil, eastern Argentina and the southern U.S. While the weather pattern was at its shortest since 2008-9, it has roiled agricultural markets and scorched Argentina's soy crop for the year. Soy meal--with Argentina providing half of the globe's supply-- was at one point up more than 20%, before China stepped into the breach. The U.S. last week said there's a 62% chance the Pacific Ocean will return to a neutral phase between April and June, according to Bloomberg. (david.hodari@wsj.com; @davidhodari)

FUTURES MARKETS

Strong Pork Bellies Boost Hog Futures

Hog futures rose on Tuesday, lifted by higher pork prices.

Wholesale prices for bellies, used to make bacon, tumbled last week. That dragged broader pork prices lower, which in turn weighed on futures.

CASH MARKETS

 
Zumbrota, Minn Hog $1.00 Lower At $39.00 - Mar 13 
 

Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market are steady at $39.00 per hundredweight. Sow prices are $1.00 to $2.00 lower. Sows weighing 400-450 pounds are at $36.00-$38.00, 450-500 pounds are $36.00-$38.00 and those over 500 pounds are $40.00-$42.00.

The day's total run is estimated at 100 head.

Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association.

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Mar 13 
 
This report reflects U.S. pork packer processing margins. The margin indices 
are calculated using current cash hog or carcass values and wholesale pork 
cutout values and may not reflect actual margins at the plants. These 
estimates reflect the general health of the industry and are not meant to 
be indicative of any particular company or plant. 
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 
                                      * 
Mar 13       +$26.06             +$ 30.09 
Mar 12       +$24.98             +$ 30.14 
Mar 9        +$22.77             +$ 26.67 
 
* 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  101.6 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  101.3 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Tuesday fell 17 cents per hundred pounds to $223.73, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 74 cents per hundred pounds to $216.75. The total load count was 117. Wholesale pork prices fell 2 cents to $74.40 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2018 17:45 ET (21:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.