TOP STORIES

USDA Cold Storage Report Meets Livestock Expectations -- Market Talk

16:47 ET - The USDA released its monthly Cold Storage report this afternoon, which contained little in the way of surprises for traders. Frozen beef supplies were down roughly 50M pounds from last year, totaling 430.3M pounds. Frozen pork was also down from last year, but up from the previous month, totaling 621.9M pounds. "I imagine we will continue to keep the freezers full in anticipation of supplying the global pork shortage," says Craig VanDyke of Top Third Ag Marketing regarding the report's pork figures. VanDyke says that traders are holding out for this stockpiling of pork to pay dividends if the Chinese begin purchasing more US pork--something that they hope tomorrow's export sales report will show. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

China Facing Growing Threat to its Crops -- Market Talk

10:31 ET - On top of African swine fever decimating its pig herds, China is contending with another pest that is infiltrating its crops--the fall armyworm. According to Chinese state-run news, the armyworm infestation has grown to hit 14 provinces and regions, and has been found on 92,000 hectares of farmland in China. By comparison, China grows corn on roughly 42M hectares of land. The USDA issued a report on the armyworm late last month, saying the worm was a threat to a multitude of cash crops including wheat, corn and soybeans, and has no natural predators. "Experts report that there is a high probability that the pest will spread across all of China's grain production area within the next 12 months," the USDA says in the report. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Land O'Lakes Leader Isn't Scared of Meatless Food Explosion

Beth Ford, chief executive of Land O'Lakes Inc., one of the largest dairy producers in the U.S., has never tried the meatless Impossible Burger but is open to it.

Inventions like the chef-endorsed plant-based burgers are part of a solution to stubborn problems in the nation's food system -- not a threat to the meat and dairy industries, she said at The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival on Wednesday.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Del Monte Vegetable Trays Tied to 2nd Foodborne Illness Outbreak -- Market Talk

16:14 ET - Del Monte vegetable trays are in the spotlight again after the FDA for the second time in two years probes a foodborne illness outbreak linked to the items. FDA says it's inspecting an Illinois facility of Del Monte's that produced vegetable trays that have been linked to four salmonella infections in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The trays were sold at Kwik Trip convenience stores in the two states. Last year, the company's vegetable trays were tied to a multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis that sickened 250 people in four Midwestern states. The two outbreaks aren't related, according to FDA, which says Kwik Trip has voluntarily removed all Del Monte vegetable trays from their stores. (jesse.newman@wsj.com; @jessenewman13)

FUTURES MARKETS

Livestock Futures Fall as Supply Grows -- Market Talk

15:03 ET - Livestock futures finished trading day down on the CME, with July lean hog futures down 0.4% to 91.050 cents per pound and August live cattle futures down 0.3% to $1.07950 per pound. According to Steiner Consulting Group, analysts believe that placements of cattle on feed were 13.5% higher than a year ago, which is one factor explaining the weakness of the cattle contract. Since the August contract hit a high of $1.22325 per pound in late March, it has slipped 12%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - May 22 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
May 22       +$  3.14            +$ 49.59 
May 21       +$  2.43            +$ 54.60 
May 20       +$  1.85            +$ 53.16 
 
* 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   95.8 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  100.0 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday rose 17 cents per hundred pounds, to $219.75, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 77 per hundred pounds, to $205.81. The total load count was 172. Wholesale pork prices fell $2.33, to $83.47 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 22, 2019 17:44 ET (21:44 GMT)

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