TOP STORIES

Debating Meat Production in the Year 3019 -- Market Talk

15:53 ET - The Good Food Institute, an advocacy group for meat alternatives, tries to put some perspective around a study by Oxford researchers showing that cell-cultured meat technology may not always be more climate-friendly than traditional cattle-ranching. The group, which promotes cell-cultured meat, says that the paper relies on hypothetical scenarios to judge the technology's effect and reliance on conventional electrical power--"as biotechnology and clean energy advance, clean meat production will become more and more efficient," says Bruce Friedrich, executive director for GFI. The group says that of 12 long-term scenarios contemplated in the paper, cell-cultured meat was better for the climate over the next century in all 12, and in eight of 12 for the next 1,000 years. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

Cattle Butt Up Against Cell-Culture Tech In Climate Assessment -- Market Talk

1126 ET - Is meat grown from animal cells in bioreactor tanks destined to be friendlier for the environment than millions of belching cattle? Not necessarily, say University of Oxford researchers, who calculate several visions of meat-eating centuries into the future to compare greenhouse gas contributions from the new technology versus traditional livestock production. Depending on global beef consumption rates and the sort of ranching being done, the cell-based technology is sometimes climate-friendlier, but in other cases compares poorly to pastures and feedlots. That's partly because the methane emitted by cattle and manure dissipates from the atmosphere more quickly than does the carbon dioxide produced by electricity generation, which the researchers assume will power cell-based meatmaking. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

STORIES OF INTEREST

Grain Futures Chase 'February Lows'

Wheat contracts for March delivery fell 2.9% to $4.89 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday amid reports of a lacking appetite for U.S. wheat on export markets and general fatigue over U.S.-China negotiations.

March corn contracts dropped 1.3% to $3.69 3/4 a bushel.

Soybean contracts for March delivery dropped 0.7% to $9.00 3/4 a bushel.

New Round of U.S.-China Talks to Dominate Grains Focus -- Market Talk

08:49 ET - The resumption of talks between U.S. and Chinese delegates in Washington this week all but assure that the grains markets will be closely watching any international trade news. The talks follow a round held in Beijing last week, which did not yield any new results. For both corn and soybeans, this marks another week that traders will be hesitant to quickly offload supplies. "Another round of talks is scheduled in Washington this week and traders just do not want to be caught short should there be an announcement of a U.S./China Ag package that could include corn," says Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures Stay Slumped to Finish Day -- Market Talk

15:37 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME finish down 5% today, at 56.525 cents per pound. Today's weakness in the futures contract stems from a subdued appetite for U.S. pork exports globally, according to analysts. "Recent trade perspective from the USDA data coming out says that beef exports look really good, and pork exports not so good," says Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics. Even with news of a recall in China of frozen pork dumplings due to African swine fever contamination, the U.S. market is starting to doubt that Chinese buyers will come to the U.S. market en masse. Meanwhile, live cattle futures finish 1% up, at $1.28450 per pound due to another bout of winter weather aimed at the Midwest. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Feb 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 
 
Feb 19       +$ 16.99            +$ -6.64 
Feb 18       +$ 19.20            +$ -3.58 
Feb 15       +$ 27.74            +$  0.29 
 
* 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  102.2 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  102.9 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Tuesday fell 12 cents per hundred pounds to $217.27, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose 54 cents per hundred pounds to $213.54. The total load count was 138. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.42 to $58.65 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2019 17:28 ET (22:28 GMT)

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