TOP STORIES

Farm/Labor Groups Push For Senate Action on Farm Labor Reform -- Market Talk

1603 ET - Major farm and labor groups are calling on Senators to swiftly advance efforts to improve the nation's agricultural labor system following the successful passage of a related bill in the House this week. Groups representing dairy, apple and vegetable growers, as well as farmworker advocates and unions, praised the House's approval of a bill that lays out a path to citizenship for farmworkers in the country illegally, saying it is imperative the legislation not die in the Senate as it did two years ago. The groups' concerns range from a critical labor shortage on US farms to protections for essential workers, who were heavily impacted by Covid-19. Bruce Goldstein, president of advocacy group Farmworker Justice, says he is "cautiously optimistic" such a measure would also pass the Senate. (jesse.newman@wsj.com; @jessenewman13)

Restaurant Brands to Expand Popeyes in Mexico

Restaurant Brands International Inc.'s Popeyes fast-food chain will expand its presence in Mexico through a partnership with JK Capital, Restaurant Brands said Friday.

The expansion includes plans to open hundreds of Popeyes restaurants in Mexico in the coming years, Miami-based Restaurant Brands said. Popeyes' only presence in Mexico today is in the city of Guadalajara.

The first of the new restaurants will open in Mexico City in 2021, the company said.

STORIES OF INTEREST

United Natural Foods Still Facing Shortage of Paper Goods -- Market Talk

1453 ET - Consumer-goods wholesaler United Natural Foods continues to experience shortages of paper products one year into the Covid-19 pandemic, CFO John Howard says. The manufacturers of products that consumers frequently stockpile, such as toilet paper and paper towels, have had trouble producing them fast enough to meet demand, he says. Those companies deliver the goods to United Natural Foods, which serves about 30,000 locations in the US and Canada. "We're demanding it and consumers are looking for it," Howard says. United Natural Foods up 5%. (mark.maurer@wsj.com; @markgmaurer)

FUTURES MARKETS

Cattle on Feed Up From Last Year, Marketings Down

Elevated prices for animal feed did not pressure the amount of cattle on feed in February, says the USDA.

In its monthly Cattle on Feed report, the USDA said that cattle on feed inventory through March 1 rose to 12 million head, 102% of where it was last year. Meanwhile, cattle marketings totaled 1.73 million head, 2% below the same month in 2020.

Live cattle futures traded on the CME finished down 0.8% at $1.18675 a pound Friday, while lean hog futures finished up 0.5% to $1.006 a pound.

CASH MARKETS 


 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Mar 19 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Mar 19       +$ 17.61            +$ 84.75 
Mar 18       +$ 25.65            +$ 93.35 
Mar 17       +$ 18.00            +$ 80.36 
 
* 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   93.0 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select   92.2 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday rose $1.38 per hundred pounds, to $229.99, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.84 per hundred pounds, to $219.95. The total load count was 108. Wholesale pork prices fell $4.00, to $101.82 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-19-21 1749ET