TOP STORIES

 
JBS Extends Loss as Founding Family Keeps Control -- Market Talk

16:48 ET - Shares of Brazil's giant meatpacker JBS SA fell for the second consecutive day following the announcement that the company's board decided to keep a family member at the helm. JBS, whose controlling shareholders have been involved in a corruption scandal, saw its shares fall 0.94% Tuesday after closing down 3.95% the day before. Late Sunday, JBS said its board picked Jose Batista Sobrinho, 84, founder and father of former CEO Wesley Batista, who has been arrested, to replace him. (luciana.magalhaes@wsj.com)

 
Post Holdings to Buy Bob Evans Packaged Food Business for $1.5 Billion

Post Holdings Inc. said it plans to buy breakfast-sausage maker Bob Evans Farms Inc., the latest in a series of acquisitions by the cereal maker aimed at getting shelf space in faster growing areas of the grocery store. Post, which makes Honey Bunches Of Oats and Fruity Pebbles cereals, said it would combine the newly acquired business with Michael Foods, a company it bought three years ago that produces Simply Potatoes, Crystal Farms cheeses and liquid egg whites.

STORIES OF INTEREST

 
Grain, Soybean Futures Fall on Yield Concerns

Grain and soybean futures fell on broader losses in the commodity sector and early indications of another bumper harvest on the way. Early soybean harvest yields from states like Iowa were as high as 70 bushels an acre, said Karl Setzer, an analyst at MaxYield Cooperative, suggesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's most recent national forecast of 49.9 bushels an acre might not have been as ambitious as many initially thought.

 
Bayer Applies to Extend EC's Monsanto Deal Review to Early 2018

Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) on Tuesday said that it submitted an application on Monday to extend the European Commission review deadline for its planned acquisition of Monsanto (MON) and that it now expects the deal to close in early 2018. In late June, Bayer filed a submission to obtain antitrust approval for the deal from the European Commission. The European Commission initiated an in-depth investigation into the deal on Aug. 22. Bayer's application on Monday requested a ten-working-day extension of the review deadline to Jan. 22, 2018.

FUTURES MARKETS

 
Hog Futures Rise on Higher Pork Prices

Hog futures rose Tuesday after pork prices were higher for the first time in almost two weeks. Wholesale pork prices ended Monday up 33 cents to $78.09 per 100 pounds, halting eight consecutive trading days of decline. That encouraged traders to unwind negative bets on Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures, said Rich Nelson, chief strategist at brokerage Allendale Inc., particularly in the deferred December contract.

CASH MARKETS

 
Zumbrota, Minn Hog $1.00 Lower At $33.00 - Sep 19

Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market today are $1.00 lower at $33.00 per hundredweight.

Sow prices are steady. Sows weighing under 450 pounds are $26.00-$28.00, 400-450 pounds are at $26.00-$28.00, 450-500 pounds are $26.00-$28.00 and those over 500 pounds are $30.00-$32.00.

The day's total run is estimated at 100 head.

Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association.

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 19 
 
This report reflects U.S. pork packer processing margins. The margin indices 
are calculated using current cash hog or carcass values and wholesale pork 
cutout values and may not reflect actual margins at the plants. These 
estimates reflect the general health of the industry and are not meant to 
be indicative of any particular company or plant. 
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 
                                      * 
Sep 19       +$47.92             +$ 33.32 
Sep 18       +$48.46             +$ 36.11 
Sep 15       +$45.92             +$ 36.46 
 
* 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  103.2 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  105.9 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Tuesday fell 51 cents per hundred pounds, to $192.11, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.13 per hundred pounds, to $188.83. The total load count was 151. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.30, to $75.90 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 19, 2017 17:18 ET (21:18 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.