TOP STORIES

CDC: Foodborne Infections Rising, More Prevention Needed -- Market Talk

13:00 ET - Incidences of most foodborne infections are increasing, according to CDC's annual summary of surveillance data for 2018. The increases may be partly thanks to new diagnostic tests that allow quick determinations of the cause of a patient's illness, CDC says. But federal data also highlights the need for better prevention on farms and in meat-processing plants. Cyclospora infections surged in 2018, thanks partly to large outbreaks in produce. The most common infections, campylobacter, are often tied to chicken, and they're increasing. Salmonella enteritidis infections, a common type, have held steady for more than a decade despite regulations designed to reduce the bacteria's presence in foods like chicken and eggs. The report comes as CDC is investigating foodborne illness outbreaks this year linked to ground beef, precut melon and raw tuna. (jesse.newman@wsj.com; @jessenewman13)

Inside China's Battle to Contain Deadly Swine Fever

SANMEN COUNTY, China--Last August, a small farm in northern China reported the unexplained deaths of some of its pigs to authorities. Within days, a few dozen hogs tested positive for a deadly and highly contagious virus, and more than 19,000 pigs in the vicinity were slaughtered.

It was the start of the country's worst outbreak of a livestock disease in decades. Eight months later, African swine fever has swept across China, showing up more than 1,500 miles from the first confirmed cases.

Government data this month showed the disease, and resulting culls, have led to a sharp decline in China's pig population, which is the world's largest. The statistics bureau says the country's hog population has fallen by 40 million from a year earlier, or about 10%, to levels last seen in the late 1990s.

STORIES OF INTEREST

McDonald's Turns to Older Workers in Hiring Push -- Market Talk

15:31 ET - McDonald's is gearing up to hire around 250,000 workers for the summer, and is hoping to tap older employees as jobless rates remain low. The burger giant says its working with AARP as its seeks employees in a tough hiring period for the industry. AARP will feature McDonald's openings on its job board, and is working with workforce development programs to develop a pool of potential workers. The new pilot starts in five states before rolling out nationally later this summer, the Chicago-based company says. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

Bayer Outlines Long Legal Fight Over Roundup -- Market Talk

12:24 ET - Bayer CEO Werner Baumann tells investors that the results of the chemical and agriculture company's appeal of its first court loss over its Roundup herbicide won't likely be known until the end of 2019 -- and the appeal process on Bayer's second Roundup court loss, handed down in March, could take two years. Bayer is continuing to contest more than 13,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs linking their cancer to Roundup, and Baumann on Bayer's quarterly results call fields questions around if and when Bayer will settle the cases. "It's a combination of influencing factors that would lead to an assessment if and when, how we try to put close to this overall litigation," he says. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

Cracker Barrel Investor Threatens Proxy Battle -- Market Talk

09:09 ET - Biglari Capital demands that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store pay a special dividend to investors, or threatens to run a proxy battle for a board seat on the family restaurant chain. The investment firm run by the former head of Steak 'n Shake wants a special dividend of $3.75 a share paid to investors, and a meeting within 60 days to explore a "mutually advantageous transaction." Cracker Barrel up more than 2% pre-market. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

FUTURES MARKETS

Livestock Futures End Lower -- Market Talk

15:09 ET - CME hog futures slide 3.2% as cattle futures extend the week's losses, falling 2.5%. "Long liquidation in the live cattle futures market continues today as traders consider the possibility that the seasonal high is behind us following yesterday's sell-off," says Arlan Suderman of INTL FCStone. Meanwhile, Suderman notes that the USDA's weekly export sales report didn't show additional sales of pork to China, while shipments to China were larger than the week prior and total shipments came in at 23.9K metric tons. (francesca.fontana@wsj.com; @francescamarief)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Apr 25 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Apr 25       -$  5.27            +$ 47.04 
Apr 24       +$  3.46            +$ 54.69 
Apr 23       +$  7.37            +$ 57.33 
 
* 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  106.6 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  108.2 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday fell 3 cents per hundred pounds, to $232.93, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 53 cents per hundred pounds, to $219.75. The total load count was 159. Wholesale pork prices fell $3.56, to $82.28 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 25, 2019 17:40 ET (21:40 GMT)

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