LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
June 24 2019 - 05:21PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
Fresh Beef Lifts McDonald's Burger Sales -- Market Talk
08:58 ET - McDonald's says its launch of fresh beef burgers last
year has helped the fast-food giant gain share in burger sales in
quick-service for the first time in five years. The rollout helped
lift quarter-pound burger sales by an average of 30% the first year
and the company sold 40 million more quarter-pound burgers in 1Q
2019 than in 1Q 2018, the chain says. Fresh beef was one of the
biggest changes to the chain's menu in years.
(heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)
Land O'Lakes Part of Animal Feed JV in China -- Market Talk
11:19 ET - Land O'Lakes is joining Royal Agrifirm in setting up
a dairy-animal feed joint venture in China. The JV will provide
research and technical capabilities to China-based feed customers
and dairy farmers. The venture will initially be based in
Agrifirm's existing manufacturing plant in Tianjin, with plans to
build a dairy premix and specialty plant on the adjacent property,
and is pending antitrust and regulatory approvals.
(chris.wack@wsj.com)
STORIES OF INTEREST
China's Ag Imports From US Have Plunged in 2019 -- Market
Talk
0835 GMT - The US-China trade tensions and dueling tariffs have
helped result in Chinese imports of US agricultural products
sinking 55% in January-May from a year earlier to CNY32.7 billion
($4.8 billion), according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs, Meanwhile, imports from Brazil have jumped 21% to CNY76.2
billion. But US soybean imports soared in May, cutting the
year-to-date drop to 12%. It was 71% through April.
(liyan.qi@wsj.com)
FUTURES MARKETS
Hog Futures Finish at Lowest Level Since Early March -- Market
Talk
15:10 ET - The August lean-hog contract finishes the day down
4.7%, at 74.225 cents a pound. This is the lowest that the contract
has been since March 6, nearly four months ago. The combination of
a bearish cold storage report from the USDA and a piling-on effect
from investment funds selling their positions brought the price
down today. August live cattle futures, meanwhile, finish the day
0.2% higher. This is despite movement in the corn contract, which
gains 1% on the CBOT. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jun 24
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Jun 24 -$ 3.83 +$ 33.34
Jun 21 -$ 6.75 +$ 31.15
Jun 20 -$ 5.42 +$ 33.96
* 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 101.2
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 98.9
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday fell 8 cents per
hundred pounds, to $219.74, according to the USDA. Select-grade
prices rose 26 cents per hundred pounds, to $199.81. The total load
count was 120. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.02, to $75.91 a
hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2019 17:06 ET (21:06 GMT)
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