TOP STORIES

Supreme Court Strikes Down Union Organizers' Access Right to California Farms

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court struck down union organizers' right to visit farmworkers on agricultural fields, ruling Wednesday that a 1975 California regulation providing such access violated growers' private property rights.

The decision, by a 6-3 vote along the court's conservative-liberal divide, erases a major victory that Cesar Chavez's farmworker movement achieved in the 1970s, when they argued the nature of agricultural labor made it too difficult to reach workers outside the fields.

UK-Australia Trade Deal 'May Hit British Sheep Farmers' -- Market Talk

1622 GMT - The UK's proposed trade deal with Australia following the country's EU exit could hit British sheep farmers, an industry trade association says. The UK's National Sheep Association claims the deal could result in the country importing more than 80% of its sheep meat, potentially side-stepping UK farmers' animal-welfare standards and under-cutting their prices. The NSA says the deal needs close scrutiny to ensure it includes measures to avoid market disruption and a reduction in standards. "NSA warned from day one that the UK sheep sector could end up being the sacrificial lamb for the benefit of other industries in a trade deal and ministers could still step in to ensure this doesn't happen," NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker says. (philip.waller@wsj.com)

STORIES OF INTEREST

JM Swank Deal Makes Brenntag Market Leader in US Food-Ingredients Segment, Says Citi -- Market Talk

0758 GMT - Brenntag's acquisition of JM Swank from Platinum Equity makes the German company the market leader in the attractive U.S. food-ingredients segment, says Citi. According to Brenntag, JM Swank has an enterprise value of $304 million and reported sales of around $500 million in 2020. Citi says JM Swank's Ebitda margins look relatively low at about 5% to 6% compared with typical margins of around 9% in the segment. "Brenntag is confident it can significantly improve Swank's margins thanks to cost and revenue synergies, with management particularly optimistic about cross-selling opportunities from combining complementary product portfolios and filling in regional/industry vertical white spots," says Citi. Shares in Brenntag trade 0.3% lower at EUR78.62. (kim.richters@wsj.com)

Empire 4Q Profit Falls; Sees Challenging Fiscal 2022 Ahead

Empire Co. said Wednesday that profit fell slightly in the final quarter of fiscal 2021, and warned it expects business to contract in fiscal 2022 as Canadian shoppers adjust their habits to loosening pandemic-related restrictions.

The Canadian food retail and corporate investments conglomerate said earnings per share were 64 Canadian cents (52 cents) for the period ended May 1, down from C$0.66 in the comparable quarter a year ago.

Net income attributable to owners of the company was C$171.9 million, compared with C$177.8 million a year ago.

FUTURES MARKETS

Lean Hogs Sink Amid Dropping Cutout Prices -- Market Talk

1511 ET - Lower prices for pork products is applying pressure to hog futures , with the most-active contract finishing trading down 2.8% to $1.00725 per pound. The drop in futures comes as pork cutout prices continue to sink, with prices for loin, butt, and belly all down mid-day today. This comes after the big drops in cutout prices across the board reported by the USDA at the end of the day yesterday. Meanwhile, live cattle futures closed down 0.2% to $1.22875 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS 


 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jun 23 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Jun 23       -$ 47.21            +$ 75.81 
 
Jun 22       -$ 61.66            +$ 74.86 
 
Jun 21       -$ 33.58            +$103.03 
 
* 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  145.8 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  134.8 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell $3.70 per hundred pounds, to $312.05, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $4.34 per hundred pounds, to $275.41. The total load count was 119. Wholesale pork prices rose 44 cents, to $106.33 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-23-21 1707ET