Ag in the News

02/01/2008

National and International

Tyson begins cutbacks at Emporia beef plant
Tyson Foods Inc. on Wednesday ended second-shift slaughter operations at its beef plant in Emporia, Kan., and plans to stop second-shift processing Friday, the Springdale, Ark.-based processor announced. MORE!

USDA proposes additional port for control of Mexican cattle
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has proposed a rule to establish an additional port in San Luis, Ariz., for controlling the entry of cattle from Mexico, the agency announced. MORE!

NPFDA selects member of the year
The National Poultry and Food Distributors Association announced that Walter Cooper of Pilgrim's Pride Corp. has been named the organization's 2007 Member of the Year. MORE!

Fresh & Easy to expand into Northern California
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets, the American subsidiary of U.K.-based supermarket giant Tesco, announced that it will open 18 locations in the San Francisco area by 2009. MORE!

Chick-fil-A announces menu changes for 2008
Atlanta-based chicken chain Chick-fil-A announced several new changes to its menu lineup for 2008, including new chicken salads and larger chicken strips. MORE!

Wrap Up

Welcome to February! Overnight trade to open up February was firmer, reflecting follow-through gains on market action from Thursday. Corn futures were mostly around 5 cents higher, soybeans 10 to 12 cents higher and Chicago wheat 3 to 12 cents higher in overnight trade.

Tyson not negotiating pork deal with China. Tyson head Richard Bond told Reuters Thursday his company is not in negotiations with China on pork. That runs contrary to reports following the firm's release of earnings data in which Bond said they were talking with China on pork. Bond said the Chinese won't pay a premium for pork free of ractopamine.

Mexican farmers protest. Mexican farmers took to the streets of that country's capital to protest the removal of import duties on U.S. corn. They maintain that will drive more Mexican farmers out of business, in particular if U.S. farmers start producing more white corn, a staple in Mexico. Mexico's president announced an expansion of cash supports to livestock and poultry producers to buy corn for feed.

Cattle Inventory data today. USDA's twice-yearly look at the entire U.S. cattle herd will be out this afternoon from USDA at 2 pm CT. Key in the report will be the beef replacement heifer category. Pre-report estimates have a wide spread of expectations in this key category. Other keys in the data will be the 2007 calf crop.