Ag in the News

03/17/2008

National

Cagle's recalls poultry products
Collinsville, Ala.-based Cagle's Inc. has recalled about 943,000 pounds of various fresh and frozen poultry giblets and fresh carcasses with giblets inserted that may be adulterated due to improper disposition of the giblets, USDA announced. MORE!

Donning and doffing suit against Pilgrim's Pride given collective-action status
An Arkansas federal judge has granted collective-action status to plaintiffs seeking payment from Pilgrim's Pride Corp. for time spent donning and doffing. MORE!

Chipotle to give preference to humanely slaughtered chickens
Chipotle has reached an agreement with PETA to give purchasing preference to suppliers who use controlled atmosphere killing (CAK) in their chicken operations, the activist group announced. MORE!

Legislators pose animal handling legislation
Three U.S. Senators proposed legislation that would pose stiff fines and shut down slaughter facilities that repeatedly process downed animals illegally. MORE!

Popeyes to spend $6 million to improve performance
AFC Enterprises plans to spend $6 million to improve its Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits chain. MORE!

FreshDirect teams with New York restaurant to offer new Indian entrées
Online food delivery service FreshDirect has teamed with Chef Floyd Cardoz of New York's Tabla restaurant to launch seven proprietary 4-Minute Meals, seven Ready-to-Cook entrées and four side dishes. MORE!

Wrap Up

It's St. Patrick's Day & the Fed makes more 'green' available. The Fed's action this weekend to expand lending to non banks, lower its discount rate and to back the sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan were seen as another step by the Fed to calm financial market waters. But Asian stocks fell lower overnight and pressure was seen in Europe. Plus, the dollar dropped to its lowest level against the Japanese yen since August 1995. Financial markets are expected to open under pressure today. Here's a link to read more about what the Fed did.

Overnight market action. Corn futures fell mostly lower in overnight action, with soybeans also weakening in overnight trade. Wheat futures, however, managed to move higher in a/c/e trade to open the week. Crude oil and gold futures took out their previous highs in overnight trade. Gold futures posted sharp gains, while crude oil backed off to slight gains after making new highs.

Congress is out, but.... Key farm bill players will continue to try and get a deal over the two-week congressional break on how to fund extra spending beyond the budget baseline. After initially signaling last Friday was a "deadline," the efforts are to continue this week.

Bird flu in China. China has confirmed that an outbreak of bird flu was discovered in the southern city of Guangzhou, prompting Hong Kong to block imports of poultry from the city. However, the Xinhua News Agency reported that officials stated the situation was under control.