TOP STORIES

Target Sees Food As Part Of Its Daily Bread -- Market Talk

12:44 ET - Target executives believe food and beverage will be a crucial part of its growth. The company will launch its own private-label food brand, dubbed Good & Gather, next month. About three quarters of its customer baskets have a food item in it, says Brian Cornell on a call with reporters. "Food is really important to our guests," he says. "They tell us that all the time." Target shares surge 20% following better-than-expected 2Q earnings and a raised outlook. (kimberly.chin@wsj.com; mskimberlychin)

STORIES OF INTEREST

Ethanol Data Bearish for Corn -- Market Talk

11:45 ET - Ethanol production dropped this week by 22,000 barrels to 1 million barrels per day, the EIA says. Meanwhile, ethanol inventories also fell by 516,000 barrels to 23.4 million barrels. Traders are more concerned about the decrease in production this week, says Terry Reilly of Futures International, calling the data bearish for US corn futures. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

USDA Officials Leave Crop Tour After Death Threat

Officials from the Agriculture Department left an annual crop tour after receiving a death threat against one of its staff members.

Hubert Hamer, an administrator with the USDA's statistical department, said Wednesday that an employee was threatened on the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, a trip across seven Midwestern states this week to estimate the size and health of this year's corn and soybean crops.

FUTURES MARKETS

17:08 ET - Cattle futures on the CME closed at $1.00225 a pound, while lean hogs closed down to 63.3 cents a pound. Despite recent woes with the fire at the Tyson Foods plant in Kansas, domestic demand is still good, says Jeff French of Top Third Ag Marketing. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Aug 21 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Aug 21       +$ 20.66            +$ 41.55 
Aug 20       +$ 19.89            +$ 46.63 
Aug 19       +$ 20.40            +$ 49.21 
 
* 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  113.2 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  105.7 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday rose 4 cents per hundred pounds, to $241.74, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.43 per hundred pounds, to $215.70. The total load count was 105. Wholesale pork prices fell $2.36, to $79.73 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 21, 2019 21:09 ET (01:09 GMT)

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