LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS : Top Stories of the Day

TOP STORIES

Smithfield Seeks to Settle Pork Price-Fixing Charges for $83M -- Market Talk

13:29 ET - Smithfield Foods, the largest US pork supplier, is the latest meatpacker to seek to settle civil litigation over alleged price fixing. The company, owned by China's WH Group, says it will pay $83M to resolve direct-purchaser class claims currently pending in federal court in Minnesota, though Smithfield continues to deny the charges. Smithfield says the settlement will reduce its costs and legal exposure in the civil antitrust litigation, though the settlement still needs approval from the court. In January, chicken suppliers Tyson Foods and Pilgrim's Pride said they reached deals to resolve separate civil charges around price-fixing in poultry. ([e-mail]; @jacobbunge)

Wendy's Leads Fast-Food Companies on Antibiotic Policy, As You Sow Says -- Market Talk

1028 GMT - Wendy's pledge to stop buying beef, pork and chicken containing so-called medically important antibiotics in the U.S. and Canada by 2030 makes it a leader on the issue in the fast-food industry, says As You Sow, a nonprofit that pressures food companies to cut antibiotic use via shareholder resolutions. The World Health Organization warns that antibiotics in livestock contribute to antibiotic resistance, making bacterial infections harder to treat. "This leadership is critical for sending a clear message to producers that use of medically important antibiotics needs to end in order to prevent the next pandemic," says Christy Spees, environmental health program manager at As You Sow. ([e-mail]; @dieterholger)

General Mills Warns of Inflation, Readies for Shifting Consumer Behavior -- Update

General Mills Inc. said it is raising prices across nearly all its grocery categories around the world, as the maker of Cheerios cereal and Betty Crocker cake mix says it faces its highest costs in a decade.

More expensive ingredients, packaging, trucking and labor will push General Mills' overall costs about 7% higher over the next year or so, executives said.

General Mills on Wednesday projected its 2021 profits would remain flat or decline as much as 2%. For its latest quarter General Mills said profit fell by one-third to $416.8 million, versus the same period last year, when the pandemic's onset in the U.S. set off a surge in food purchases.

The company's earnings after adjustments were ahead of expectations from analysts, as were sales of $4.52 billion.

STORIES OF INTEREST

CES 2022 Will Have Space, Food Tech Categories -- Market Talk

1041 ET - CES, put on by the Consumer Technology Association, will have space tech and food tech as new exhibition categories next year, the group says. The tech show is returning in person in Las Vegas on Jan. 5-8, 2022. The show organizer says Sierra Space, a subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, will showcase its Dream Chaser spaceplane. The food-tech category will include agriculture, ingredient innovation, meal kits and deliveries, nutrition, plant-based proteins, traceability, sustainability, vertical farming and others, CES says. Grov Technologies, Impossible Foods and John Deere will be returning exhibitors. ([e-mail]; @depsebastian)

Maple Leaf Foods Agrees to Acquire Four Pig Farms in Saskatchewan

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire four pig farms in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from Polar Pork, a conglomerate of companies.

The Canadian consumer packaged-meats company said the acquisition, which includes two sow barns and two nursery barns with the potential to supply approximately 140,000 pigs, will enhance its overall pig supply and substantially increase its production capacity in the province.

Grain Traders View USDA Reports as 'Extremely Bullish' -- Market Talk

1225 ET - Grain traders have reacted positively to the USDA's release of its planted acreage and quarterly stocks reports--which showed a less-than-expected growth in planted acres of US crops by farmers as well as tighter-than-expected inventories. "Corn is limit up and beans are likely headed that way too," says Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives, calling the reports "extremely bullish." Corn futures are up 7.3% following the releases of these reports, while soybeans gain 6.1% and wheat climbs 4.1%. ([e-mail]; @kirkmaltais)

FUTURES MARKETS

Grain Traders View USDA Reports as 'Extremely Bullish' -- Market Talk

1512 ET - Livestock futures trading on the CME finish mixed Wednesday, this after uniformly dropping to begin trading today. Live cattle futures finished 0.7% higher at $1.22725 per pound, while lean hog futures finished down 0.4% to $1.0325 per pound--ending a three-day winning streak for that contract. For cattle, movement seen in corn futures today following the USDA's release of the planted acreage and quarterly stocks reports is informing movements in the costs for cattle feed--and higher prices mean that higher cattle prices are needed, livestock traders say. ([e-mail];, @kirkmaltais)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-30-21 1731ET