TOP STORIES 



  Archer Daniels, Marfrig Plan Plant-Based Foods Venture 


  Marfrig Global Foods SA and Archer Daniels Midland Co. Wednesday said they are forming a joint venture to make and sell plant-based food products across South American and North American markets. 


  Brazilian meat titan Marfrig will initially own 70% of the venture, called PlantPlus Foods, while Chicago agribusiness giant ADM will own 30%. 


  Papa John's Says Demand Remains Elevated 


  Papa John's International Inc. has experienced a continued streak of higher demand as the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded in North America, the pizza chain said Wednesday. 


  Comparable year-over-year sales growth between April 27 and May 24 was 33.5% at Papa John's restaurants in North America. That followed year-over-year growth of 26.9% at North America restaurants between March 30 and April 26. 


  STORIES OF INTEREST 


  First Corn Condition Report Shows Healthy Crop -- Market Talk 


  08:45 ET - The USDA released its first corn condition report for the year following the market's close Tuesday, showing a healthy corn crop. 70% of US corn is in either good or excellent condition, the USDA says. At this point last year, the agency hadn't even begun to survey the crop's condition, given the lateness of planting due to record wet weather. Corn futures on the CBOT are up 0.5% in pre-market trading Wednesday, but the health and size of the US corn crop is expected to keep pressure on futures. "The rally probably does not have much upside potential without dry weather or heat midsummer," says Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage, who forecasts that corn prices could fall to as low as $2.70 to $2.90 per bushel this year. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais) 


  FUTURES MARKETS 


  Cattle Closes Above $1 For First Time Since March -- Market Talk 


  15:31 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME finished the day up 1.5%, at $1.00725 per pound. It's the first time live cattle futures have closed above $1 per pound since March 31, and makes it nearly 24% that the cattle contract has risen since finding a decade-low of roughly 81 cents per pound on April 24. Meanwhile, lean hog futures fell 0.5% to 59.3 cents per pound, cutting into yesterday's 6.6% jump. While hog prices are down in May, they are still well up from April price trough of 41 cents per pound -- a 44% uptick. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com, @kirkmaltais) 


  CASH MARKETS 

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - May 27 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
May 27       +$99.03             +$ 56.17 
 
May 26       +$116.51            +$ 74.89 
 
May 22       +$115.37            +$ 73.15 
 
* 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  169.2 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  166.4 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 


  Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell $7.72 per hundred pounds, to $377.77, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $9.82 per hundred pounds, to $350.20. The total load count was 175. Wholesale pork prices fell $8.71, to $87.86 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.