Current Cattle Market Daily Headlines Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Mackenzie Johnston

4 years ago

Cargill launches $15 million Cargill Cares Employee Disaster Relief Fund

Cargill is launching the Cargill Cares Employee Disaster Relief Fund to support employees around the world during times of catastrophic or personal disaster.
The company is contributing $15 million as an initial start to the fund.
This fund was initially set up to establish support for the immediate needs of Cargill employees during Covid-19, but it will also serve as a long-term resource for future events.

Beef and pork packers have almost recovered from slow-downs and closures caused by the coronavirus.
Last week’s estimated cattle slaughter was at 658,000 hd., just 11,000 hd. below the same week one year ago. Hog slaughter was estimated at 2.457 million hd., 18,000 more than the same week one year ago.
An increased slaughter level is good news, however the backlogs of both cattle and hogs remain a burden to producers.
A key to working through these backlogs will be increased Saturday operation and possibly Sunday kill.
Packers are experiencing significant profit margins, which may be just enough incentive, along with wage incentives for workers, to make Sunday slaughter a reality.

Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods have signed on to a letter to President Trump thanking him for advocating on behalf of the U.S. farmers, ranchers, food industry workers, and the entire U.S. food and agriculture manufacturing and marketing sector.
The letter commends President Trump for his negotiation and timely implementation of the U.S.-China Phase One Trade Agreement.
Key statements included in the letter:
- S. net farm cash income in 2020 is projected to decline 9% or $11 billion from a year ago.
- The agriculture industry is the backbone of rural America as it supports 22 million jobs and accounts for 20% of the U.S. economy.
- S. agricultural exports to China in 2019 surpassed $13.8 billion, supporting more than 2.3 million jobs in the U.S. agricultural sector.

McDonald’s U.S. sales declined 19% in April, but recovered most of those losses in May, as consumers got tired of home cooking.
Due to coronavirus, analysts are forecasting McDonald’s revenue will fall 36% in the months of April, May, and June. Despite this, McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski sees the chain emerging “in a position of competitive strength.”
Almost all of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are now operational via drive thru and delivery.