TOP STORIES
Some Holiday Hams May Be Harder to Find. Blame Covid-19
Supplies of holiday hams and some pork products are being stretched as Covid-19 precautions challenge meatpackers' workforces.
As a result, some meat suppliers are placing limits on how much pork supermarkets can order, grocers said, leading to less variety and fewer pork promotions ahead of Christmas.
STORIES OF INTEREST
Restaurants Brace for Tough Winter After Congress Spurns Cash Grants
Many restaurant owners fear a bleak winter after their priority--cash grants to keep their businesses alive while many dining rooms are closed--wasn't included in the roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief bill approved by Congress this week.
The industry got significant help, including another round of Paycheck Protection Program loans, an expanded tax credit for retaining employees and the full deduction for business meals that President Trump had championed. But those supports work best for businesses with customers, not those with stunted sales due to cratering demand or local coronavirus restrictions.
Agriculture Industry Bets on a New Cash Crop: Carbon
U.S. farmers make their living raising crops from the soil each year. Now, some are getting paid for putting something back into their fields: carbon.
Big agriculture companies including Bayer AG, Nutrien Ltd. and Cargill Inc. are jockeying with startups to encourage crop producers to adopt climate-friendly practices and develop farming-driven carbon markets. Those efforts would let retailers, food makers and other companies offset their greenhouse gas emissions by paying farmers for their fields' capacity to withdraw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and trap it in the soil.
Yogurt Maker Chobani Recruits New CFO as It Continues to Expand -- Update
Yogurt maker Chobani LLC hired a seasoned food and consumer-goods executive as its next finance chief as it expands into new food categories.
The Norwich, N.Y.-based dairy-products company Tuesday said Jody Macedonio would become chief financial officer on Monday. Ms. Macedonio most recently served as finance chief for 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, a business affiliated with food holding company Post Holdings Inc.
FUTURES MARKETS
Livestock Futures Finish Higher -- Market Talk
15:14 ET - Livestock futures on the CME finished higher - with most-active live cattle futures gaining 1.1% to $1.14275 per pound, while lean hog futures closed up 2.8% at 67.85 cents per pound. This morning's export sales report from the USDA showed that while 2020 sales are diminished, sales for 2021 are picking up steam. "Meat sales for the week were also mixed with more interest being shown for next year than 2020," says Karl Setzer of AgriVisor. Pork exports totaled 16,300 metric tons for 2020, and 23,400 tons for 2021. Beef exports totaled 6,000 tons for 2020, with 7,200 tons for 2021. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Dec 23
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Dec 23 +$ 31.43 +$ 19.11
Dec 22 +$ 26.23 +$ 16.77
Dec 21 +$ 38.83 +$ 26.32
* 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 98.8
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 96.4
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell $3.13 per hundred pounds, to $207.54, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $1.66 per hundred pounds, to $197.93. The total load count was 119. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.09, to $67.96 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-23-20 1700ET
