TOP STORIES

Shale Drillers' Latest Problems: Hog Manure and Chicken Guts

It isn't just Appalachian shale drillers that are swamping the natural-gas market. Chicken slaughterhouses, pig farms, expired yogurt and leftover bits from your last meal are contributing to the glut.

A new batch of projects around the country promise to add so-called renewable natural gas to the supply of methane that is used to produce much of the country's electricity, heat homes and fuel buses.

Unilever Recalls Some Lipton and Knorr Products Due to Poultry Supplier's Recall

Unilever PLC's (UL, ULVR.LN) Unilever U.S. is voluntarily recalling a limited amount of Lipton, Knorr and LeGout chicken products including soup mixes due to a supplier's listeria-related recall.

The recalled items include Lipton Cup-a-Soup Chicken Noodle.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Smucker Lowers Sales Outlook, Sees Weakness in Pet Food

J.M. Smucker Co. said sales in its pet business are dragging, a fresh sign of trouble in a unit the food maker was counting on to help make up for slack packaged-foods demand.

Shares in the food maker rose 5% on Friday after profit for the latest quarter topped expectations. But Smucker also cut its forecast for net sales in the current fiscal year to a 3% drop, from previous expectations for roughly flat sales by that metric.

Ag Markets Waiting and Watching for Trade to Be Resolved -- Market Talk

14:46 ET - Ag markets are still waiting to see whether the US heads to China to work on a trade deal. "Amid favorable South American weather, a US/China trade deal is the only real fundamental that would scare the bears," AgResource says. China's president Xi Jinping said the countries need to strengthen their communications and avoid misinterpretations. Trump says Friday, "We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I'm also standing with President Xi, he's a friend of mine, he's an incredible guy." Trump added, "We are also in the process of making the largest trade deal in history and if we could do that it would be great." (allison.prang@wsj.com; @AllisonPrang)

FUTURES MARKETS

Cattle Futures Slump, Hog Futures Rise -- Market Talk

15:33 ET - Lean hog futures rise 0.3% to 67.65 cents a pound, ending higher for the second session in a row. Cattle futures decline 0.1% to $1.2385. Cattle futures moved on nervousness before the USDA's Cattle on Feed report by those with longer bets, says Mike Zuzolo, chief analyst for Global Commodity Analytics. "Longs essentially said, 'I'm going to get out of the way'" before the report, he says. Zuzolo says given what the longs did with cattle and given a better sentiment on trade, those shorting hog futures covered their bets. (allison.prang@wsj.com; @AllisonPrang)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Nov 22 
 
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 
 
Nov 22       +$ 82.84            +$ 48.26 
Nov 21       +$ 76.69            +$ 43.14 
Nov 20       +$ 88.37            +$ 54.99 
 
* 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  108.8 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  106.5 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday fell $2.29 per hundred pounds, to $232.57, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $2.54 per hundred pounds, to $211.32. The total load count was 104. Wholesale pork prices rose $2.38, to $82.85 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2019 17:25 ET (22:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.