LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
September 20 2017 - 5:54PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
Falling Yogurt Sales Drag General Mills' Earnings
Yoplait yogurt is spoiling General Mills Inc.'s sales.
The company said its U.S. yogurt sales fell 22%, pushing it to
its ninth straight quarter of revenue declines.
In the latest quarter, which ended in August, General Mills'
global sales fell 3.5% to $3.77 billion. On a comparable basis,
revenue was down 4%, worse than its projected 1% to 2% decline for
the fiscal year, which ends in May.
Albertsons to Buy Meal-Kit Company Plated
Albertsons Cos. is buying the Plated meal-kit service, the first
acquisition of a prepared-meals company by a national grocery chain
as supermarkets scramble to keep shoppers coming to their
stores.
The New York-based Plated, which does business as DineInFresh
Inc., will operate as a subsidiary of the U.S.'s second largest
grocery chain, the companies said. Customers will be able to buy a
rotating selection of meals like chicken Marsala with roasted
potatoes and feta-stuffed lamb burgers for delivery or pickup at
Albertsons stores in coming months. They currently cost $10 to $12
a serving.
Animal-Protection Groups Decry Meat Plant Speed Up -- Market
Talk
11:55 ET - Animal welfare groups call on the USDA to deny US
meat companies' request to run chicken processing plants faster,
arguing that higher speeds translate to less control over key plant
functions that increase the risk of workers getting hurt and
chickens being treated inhumanely. "There are limits to the speed
at which humans and equipment can function," and there have already
been "thousands" of incidents where improper plant controls
resulted in chickens' rough handling or killing, according to the
letter from the Humane Society of the United States, the Animal
Welfare Institute and other groups. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com;
@jacobbunge)
STORIES OF INTEREST
Panera CEO Calls for Rethink of Kids' Meals -- Market Talk
9:02 ET - Panera Bread's Ron Shaich is issuing a challenge to
fellow restaurant CEOs to eat the meals they sell to children,
exclusively, for seven days straight. Shaich, who has previously
criticized fast-food chains for serving non-nutritious food to
children, says he wants fellow restaurant leaders, such as
McDonald's, to evaluate what they serve to kids. Panera is also
expanding its kids' meal options to allow children to choose a
half-sized version of any of its regular menu items. "As an
industry, we need to rethink how we feed our smallest guests," he
said in an interview. MCD has been making its Happy Meals healthier
in recent years and plans in November to replace the Minute Maid
apple juice boxes with an organic, diluted apple juice from Honest
Kids. (julie.jargon@wsj.com)
FUTURES MARKETS
Cattle Futures Hit Six-Week High
Cattle futures touched their upper daily limit on Wednesday,
hitting a six-week high as cash-market prices rose.
Meatpackers bought 636 head of cattle at the weekly online Fed
Cattle Exchange on Wednesday morning for an average of $106.67 per
100 pounds, up from $104.75 last week. That was also higher than
last week's total cash trade average of $105.84, according to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
CASH MARKETS
Zumbrota, Minn Hog Steady At $33.00 - Sep 20
Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market
today are steady 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 200 head.
Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association.
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 20
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
*
Sep 20 +$49.54 +$33.08
Sep 19 +$47.92 +$33.32
Sep 18 +$48.46 +$36.11
* 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 103.5
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 105.2
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell 7 cents per
hundred pounds, to $192.04, according to the USDA. Select-grade
prices fell 31 cents per hundred pounds, to $188.52. The total load
count was 176. Wholesale pork prices fell 15 cents, to $75.75 a
hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 20, 2017 17:39 ET (21:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.