France

General Mills Sells North America Yogurt Operations in $2 Billion Deal

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:37:05 GMT

General Mills (GIS.N), will sell its North America yogurt business to French dairy firms Groupe Lactalis and Sodiaal in a $2.1 billion deal, the Cheerios maker said on Thursday.

Lactalis will acquire the U.S. business and Sodiaal will buy the Canadian unit, the company said.

Reuters reported in April that General Mills was working with investment bank JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), to attract interest from potential buyers for the business, which houses brands such as Yoplait and Liberté.

Packaged food makers are divesting units not delivering high growth to keep a tight leash on costs while expanding their core brands as they respond to consumers seeking cheaper alternatives.

The divestiture will help sharpen focus on key brands that have stronger margins, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Harmening said in a statement.

Yoplait is facing tough competition in the U.S. from privately held yogurt brand Chobani, as well as Danone’s (DANO.PA), Dannon brand.

The North American yogurt business contributed about $1.5 billion to General Mills’ fiscal 2024 net sales.

The Golden Valley, Minnesota-based company expects the deals to close in 2025, and will dilute adjusted earnings per share by about 3% in the first 12 months after the close.

Bloomberg News earlier on Thursday reported that General Mills was in talks to sell the North America yogurt operations to Groupe Lactalis and Sodiaal.

Yoplait was started by a group of French dairy farmers in 1964. It partnered with General Mills in 1977 through a franchise agreement giving the maker of Bisquick pancake mix exclusive rights to market the brand in the U.S.

Then in 2011, General Mills acquired a 51% stake worth $1.2 billion in Yoplait from private equity firm PAI Partners and French dairy cooperative Sodiaal, which retained the remaining stake.

In 2021, General Mills sold the European operations of Yoplait to Sodiaal.

Your Next Read: U.S. Braces for a Hotter and Drier Fall as La Niña Looms

Why Farmers Are Protesting In Europe

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 21:08:22 GMT

Farmers are protesting across the European Union, saying they are facing rising costs and taxes, red tape, excessive environmental rules and competition from cheap food imports. Demonstrations have been taking place for weeks in countries including France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy and Greece.

While many issues are country-specific, others are Europe-wide. Here is a detailed look at the problems that have prompted the protest movement across the bloc and in individual countries.

IMPORTS

Demonstrations in eastern Europe have focused on what farmers say is unfair competition from large amounts of imports from Ukraine, for which the EU has waived quotas and duties since Russia’s invasion. Polish farmers have been blocking traffic at the border with Ukraine, which Kyiv says is affecting its defense capability and helping Russia’s aims. Meanwhile, Czech farmers have driven their tractors into downtown Prague, disrupting traffic outside the farm ministry.

The farmers resent the imports because they say they put pressure on European prices while not meeting environmental standards imposed on EU farmers. Renewed negotiations to conclude a trade deal between the EU and South American bloc Mercosur have also fanned discontent about unfair competition in sugar, grain and meat.

RULES AND BUREAUCRACY

Farmers take issue with excessive regulation, mainly at EU level. Centre stage are new EU subsidy rules, such as a requirement to leave 4% of farmland fallow, which means not using it for a period of time.

They also denounce bureaucracy, which French farmers say their government compounds by over-complicating implementation.

In Spain, farmers have complained of “suffocating bureaucracy” drawn up in Brussels that erodes the profitability of crops.

In Greece, farmers demand higher subsidies and faster compensation for crop damage and livestock lost in 2023 floods.

RISING DIESEL FUEL COSTS

In Germany and France, the EU’s biggest agricultural producers, farmers have railed against plans to end subsidies or tax breaks on agricultural diesel. Greek farmers want a tax on diesel to be reduced.

In Romania, protests in mid-January were mainly against the high cost of diesel.

In France, many producers say a government drive to bring down food inflation has left them unable to cover high costs for energy, fertilizer and transport.

WHAT ARE GOVERNMENTS DOING?

The European Commission late last month proposed to limit agricultural imports from Ukraine by introducing an “emergency brake” for the most sensitive products - poultry, eggs and sugar - but producers say the volume would still be too high. The Commission has also exempted EU farmers for 2024 from the requirement to keep some of their land fallow while still receiving EU farm support payments, but they would need to instead grow crops without applying pesticides.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced measures including controls to insure imported foods do not have traces of pesticides banned in France or the EU, and talks to get farmers higher prices and loosen bureaucracy and regulation.

Paris and Berlin have both relented to the pressure and rowed back on plans to end subsidies or tax breaks on agricultural diesel. In Romania, the government has acted to increase diesel subsidies, address insurance rates and expedite subsidy payments.

In Portugal, the caretaker government has announced an emergency aid package worth 500 million euros, including 200 million euros to mitigate the impact of a long-running drought.

WHY FARMERS ARE PROTESTING, BY COUNTRY:

FRANCE

- EU red tape

- Diesel prices

- Need more support to shore up incomes

- Access to irrigation

- Criticism over animal welfare and use of pesticides

POLAND

- Cheap imports from Ukraine

- EU regulation

CZECH REPUBLIC

- Bureaucracy

- Cheap imports

- EU farm policy

SPAIN

- “Suffocating bureaucracy” drawn up in Brussels that they say erodes the profitability of crops

- Trade deals that they say open the door to cheap imports

PORTUGAL

- Insufficient state aid, subsidy cuts

- Red tape

ROMANIA

- Cost of diesel

- Insurance rates

- EU environmental regulations

- Cheap imports from Ukraine

BELGIUM

- EU requirement to leave 4% of land fallow

- Cheap imports

- Subsidies favoring larger farms

GREECE

- Demands for higher subsidies and faster compensation for crop damage and livestock lost in 2023 floods

- Diesel tax and surging electricity bills

- Falling state and EU subsidies

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Gus Trompiz; Editing by Crystal Chesters)

Milk Production in Europe Continues to Fall: Here are Two Big Reasons Why

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 22:08:16 GMT

The ongoing implementation of environmental regulations, called the European Green Deal, and low agricultural commodity prices have sparked numerous farmer protests across Europe. Dairy has not been immune as new regulations weigh on milk production. November EU milk collections fell to levels not seen in years, according to Betty Berning, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report.

Approved in 2020, the European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives designed to help the trading blocreduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The initiatives extend to many different sectors of the economy, including construction, biodiversity, energy, transportation, and food and agriculture.

“The protests occurring across the continent underscore farmers’ frustration with low revenues and increased restrictions,” Berning said. “While governments seem to be listening, it’s unclear whether meaningful action will be taken. Moreover, with environmental limits already in place in Ireland and the Netherlands, change could come too late to cause a significant shift in the trajectory of the EU dairy sector.”

November milk production in the European Union and the United Kingdom fell 2.5%, compared to a year earlier, to 26.6 billion pounds, based on preliminary data and estimates from Eurostat, CLAL, and the UK’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). November milk production was the lowest for any November since 2018 and the fourth month in a row that volumes declined on a year-over-year basis. Ireland’s November milk collections plunged 20%, or 218.3 million pounds, to 882.4 million pounds vs. November 2022, as the country headed into its seasonal low.

“Ongoing environmental restrictions have been pushing production lower across Europe, and November’s production loss highlights the continent’s ongoing reduction in milk flows,” Berning said.

Through November 2023, annual year-over-year milk production was up a marginal 0.1%, with losses beginning in August. According to USDA’s October estimates, Europe’s trend toward declining output will continue into this year, with 2024 milk volumes forecast to drop 0.14% from 2023 levels to 320 billion pounds.

“German farmers took to the streets of Berlin in late January to protest rising taxes and a lack of subsidies,” Berning noted. “The demonstrations were part of ongoing farmer protests as Germany rolls out austerity measures to cover holes in its budget.”

Reuters and other news outlets reported that similar demonstrations have been occurring in other countries since late last year. Farmers in France, for example, have blocked roads around Paris as they call for “urgent action on low farmgate prices, green regulation, and free-trade policies,” according to Reuters.

Some headway could be occurring in France, where Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he will not reduce tax breaks for diesel fuel destined for agricultural use, one of the farmers’ chief grievances. He also said the government will distribute emergency funds more quickly and levy substantial fines on corporations that do not follow price negotiation rules.

“Farmers in Poland have voiced concerns over agricultural imports from Ukraine as well as over the European Green Deal,” Berning said. “Agricultural products from Ukraine have reportedly been flooding Poland’s market as demand remains low in the war-torn nation, causing Polish farm revenue to drop.”

For more industry news, read:

Pizza With 1,001 Varieties of Cheese Breaks World Record

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 16:47:10 GMT

While most cheese pizzas are only topped with 2-3 different kinds of cheese, this pungent concoction has secured the Guinness World Record for the most varieties of cheese on a pizza , sporting 1,001 different types of cheese.

Created by French pizza chefs Benoît Bruel and Fabien Montellanico, with help from cheesemaker Sophie Hatat Richart-Luna and YouTuber Florian OnAir, it surpasses the previous record of 834, achieved by Morgan Niquet in 2021.

Topped with a two-gram cube of each cheese variety, the base of the pizza had to be pre-cooked to prevent the crust from tearing under the weight. Softer cheeses were place at the bottom with harder varieties layered on top.

According to Benoît, that many farmers and cheesemakers offered him their cheese for free, as they liked the idea of being part of a world record. In total, 940 of the cheeses were from France while 61 others were from various countries around the world.

Benoît achieved this record once before in 2020 when he made a pizza with 254 different cheeses. He has now almost quadrupled that number after spending five months scouring France for more varieties of cheese.

His efforts earned him an additional record for the largest display of cheese varieties (1,001), taking the title from fellow Frenchman Philippe Marchand, who procured an assortment of 730 cheeses in 2016.

“It’s been a real feat being among the cheesemakers as well as being on the farms to meet the producers who are so passionate about their profession,” Benoît told Guinness World Records . “I have been a pizza maker for 13 years. I invented my own pizza recipes, and since working in my own business, my only dream is to make pizzas with the widest variety of cheeses.”

For more industry news, read:

Danone to Sell U.S. Organic Dairy Units to PE Firm Platinum Equity

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 16:32:24 GMT

French food group Danone said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement to sell its premium organic dairy units in the United States to investment firm Platinum Equity.

The sale of the Horizon Organic and Wallaby businesses is part of the company’s portfolio review and asset rotation program the company announced in March 2022, Danone said in a statement, without disclosing the financial details of the deal.

“This sale, once completed, will allow us to concentrate further on our current portfolio of strong, health-focused brands and reinvest in our growth priorities,” said Danone CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique.

Danone will retain a minority stake in the business, the company added.

Danone declined to comment on the deal value, but added that the sale would have an impact on its 2024 financials.

Platinum Equity did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the deal value of this transaction.

The Paris-based company said in January last year that it was exploring strategic options, including a potential sale, for its organic dairy activity in the U.S.

Danone’s organic dairy activity in the U.S. comprised of the Horizon Organic and Wallaby businesses with a portfolio of organic dairy products, including milk, creamers, yogurt, cheese and butter.

It represented approximately 3% of Danone’s global revenues and had a dilutive impact on Danone’s like-for-like sales growth and recurring operating margin in 2022.

France Edges Out Argentina in Dairy

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 17:19:43 GMT

This past Sunday, soccer fans around the world were glued to their computers, televisions, and radios for the final match of the 22nd FIFA World Cup. In a penalty shootout, Argentina overtook France in one of the most thrilling finals in World Cup history. While France has carried the trophy home twice before, in 1998 and 2018, Argentina has now claimed the title three times in 1978, 1986, and 2022. When it comes to dairy, the two soccer powerhouses, while not quite as evenly matched, are both still global dynamos.

“Both countries boast strong dairy traditions and share their dairy products with the world,” said Monica Ganley, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report and principal of Quarterra, an agricultural consulting firm in Buenos Aires.

Last year, according to data from Argentina’s Ministry of Agriculture and Dairy Market Observatory, Argentina’s1.577 million dairy cows produced an estimated 26.3 billion pounds of milk. Over the past 10 years, the country’s milk production increased at an average annual rate of 1.2% due mostly to productivity improvements, Ganley noted. Per cow productivity increased 20.9% from 2011 to 16,649 lbs. in 2021. But that’s still 30.5% less milk than the average cow produces in the United States, she added.

“Most of Argentina’s dairy producers capitalize on the country’s vast pastureland and domestic grain production to employ a mixed system of both extensive and intensive practices that allows them to enjoy a moderate cost structure,” Ganley said. “Argentina enjoys rich natural resource wealth, and while this should be a boon for dairy industry growth, political mismanagement and a tumultuous economy have stymied expansion.”

Argentina manufactures its milk supply into a variety of products, with more than 43% of the milk going into cheese and another third dried into milk powder, particularly whole milk powder, much of it exported.

“The remainder of Argentina’s milk supply is destined for fluid milk, fresh products, and the country’s hallmark dulce de leche, a rich caramel product mostly used in desserts,” Ganley said. “In milk equivalent terms, per capita consumption in Argentina is about 420 lbs., although it has fallen in recent years due to economic challenges.”

Across the Atlantic, France’s dairy industry is more than twice as big as Argentina’s, with roughly 3.6 million cows that produce nearly 55 billion pounds of milk. France, Europe’s second-largest milk producer, accounts for about 17% of the milk produced in the European Union, the world’s largest exporter of dairy products

“However, like many Western European producers, French producers have been feeling the pressure of intensifying labor and environmental challenges and milk production has suffered,” Ganley said. Over the last decade, France’s milk production has fallen at an average annual rate of 0.2%, according to Eurostat.

“About one third of France’s milk is processed into cheeses including iconic French varieties like Brie, Camembert, and Roquefort, names that the French have aggressively tried to protect through geographic indicator language. Another fifth is processed into butter and milkfat products,” she said. “Dairy products form a cornerstone of the French diet, with average per capita consumption of 530 lbs. per year—less than U.S. per capita consumption—including 27 lbs. of cheese. Yet despite this substantial domestic consumption, 40% of French milk supplies still move offshore.”

When it comes to dairy, France may have the edge on Argentina, but when it comes to soccer, Argentina has proven that it has the edge on France.

France Seeks to Allay Farmers Blocking Cities, Tourist Sites

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:54:54 GMT

France’s government pledged aid for farmers following an emergency meeting Tuesday, as meat and dairy producers halted traffic and blocked tourist sites in several regions to protest low prices.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll travelled to Caen, in the western region of Normandy, to meet with farmers who have been blocking access to the city since Sunday. President Francois Hollande said an emergency plan will be presented during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

As many as 25,000 livestock farmers in France, or about 10 percent of the total, are close to bankruptcy, according to Le Foll. Falling meat prices don’t cover costs anymore, Philippe Chalmin, an economic professor at Universite Paris-Dauphine, said in an interview on i-Tele.

“We’re dealing with a profession that for a long time has been in a grim situation,” Chalmin said. “People are a little desperate about a situation that is very difficult to resolve.”

French beef producer pretax earnings fell 15 percent in 2014 to an average 15,868 euros ($17,321) while total farm income advanced 7.6 percent to 27,233 euros last year, according to government data published this month.

France’s consumers eat less meat than in the past, while the fragmentation of the industry and a lack of confidence between farmers, processors and retailers are not helping, according to Chalmin.

Helping Farmers

The government has studied as many as 17 proposals on how to help producers, including the possibility of providing bank guarantees that can help farmers service their debts, Le Foll said after a ministerial meeting in Paris today.

But it can’t fix prices for meat and milk, the minister said.

A government mediator on trade relations in agriculture was to report Tuesday evening to Le Foll on price formation in the meat industry.

Beef slaughterers and retailers agreed on June 17 to raise prices by 5 cents a week until production costs are covered, a goal that has been far from met, Le Foll said in an interview on France 2.

“The livestock breeders are in a truly unbearable financial and moral state, and we want to make him realize this situation,” Loic Baillieul, vice-president of local farmer organization FDSEA Calvados, said in an interview on BFM TV, ahead of his meeting with Le Foll

“We’re counting on the government to push on the levers that ensure that as of tomorrow, our products receive a fair price that allows us to live,” Pierre Dupuis, a livestock farmer in Dordogne, said on i-Tele.

In addition to Caen, farmers blocked access to the cities of Evreux in Normandy and Saint-Malo in Brittany as well as regional roads and the World Heritage Site of Mont-Saint-Michel. In the Dordogne region in southwest France, livestock breeders barred access to the replica of the Lascaux Caves, a site with prehistoric art.

The Yogurt Files: French Dairy Bosses Caught Colluding

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:41:33 GMT

Frantic text messages between French CEOs about cottage cheese prices. Clandestine smoke breaks in a Left Bank apartment to collude on yogurt strategy.

A ruling Thursday by France’s competition authority makes for rich reading, detailing a web of secret meetings, hand-written charts and phone exchanges over six years to fix prices on many of the yogurt-related goods on French supermarket shelves.

Eleven companies were hit with 192 million euros ($203 million) in fines for the cartel, including Yoplait and Lactalis and makers of most of the store-brand yogurt sold around France.

Lactalis did not contest the accusations, but said it would appeal the decision, arguing in a statement that the fines “overestimate in an obvious way the gravity of the facts, and their impact on the economy.” The company said it is committed to obeying the law.

The cartel was uncovered thanks to a special procedure that allows companies to report their own price-fixing activity to regulators in exchange for reduced punishment. Yoplait, majority owned by U.S.-based General Mills Inc., was the first company to report the activity, and was given no fines.

Company bosses sketched out secret deals in hotel rooms and on special phone lines created to avoid detection. Sometimes they’d meet at Au Chien Qui Fume, an iconic Paris cafe, one boss is quoted in the investigation documents as saying. His counterparts then “came to my apartment a few times to continue the conversation and smoke a cigarette,” he added.

A Yoplait executive used a special cell phone dedicated to the cartel, paid for by Yoplait but not officially linked to him in any way. An executive with dairy maker Senagral used a special cell phone taken out in his girlfriend’s name.

Senagral, which specializes in store-brand dairy products, received the biggest fine, 46 million euros. The regulator said it had 316 million euros in sales of price-fixed yogurts in 2011, more than any of the other companies.

The ruling describes how the companies were facing rising milk and packaging costs, and hints at some desperation. One executive lamented in a text message a “totally crazy price” at one supermarket, saying he needed a higher price or else “I’ll sink!!!”

Another text message protested a low price seen on a supermarket advertisement: “vanilla-flavored cottage cheese 8 x 100 grams at 1.19 euros?! Big problem for announcing rises!”

Amal Taleb, lawyer for consumer group UFC Que Choisir, hailed the investigation but said it’s too bad that French consumers, who are big buyers of yogurt, won’t benefit. The fines go to the public treasury.

“The consumer is the main victim,” she told The Associated Press, but added that it’s virtually impossible to calculate how much money consumers lost.

“Did you save your yogurt receipts from 2011? Me neither,” she said. But overall she said it was a “very good thing” that regulators are cracking down on price-fixing.

The ruling found that the companies agreed on how and when to raise prices from 2006 to 2012, and divided up volumes.

The last big ruling by the competition authority targeted makers of toothpaste, shampoo and cleaning products. The regulator fined 13 consumer-products makers about 950 million euros for price-fixing, including U.S.-based Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, and Sara Lee and Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever.

Danone Profit Slumps in 2013

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:33:43 GMT

French food manufacturer Danone says its profits slumped 15 percent last year as markets in Europe weakened, and warned that a return to growth won’t come before late in the year.

The company behind Dannon yogurt and Evian bottled water says Thursday net profit fell to 1.42 billion euros ($2 billion) in 2013, from 1.67 billion euros a year earlier.

Danone says an infant formula recall triggered by a false contamination alert at dairy supplier Fonterra in August caused a 200-million-euro loss in sales in the fourth quarter.

The company warned that demand in Europe will remain “sluggish” this year and said its underlying profitability, already down in 2013, could fall further in 2014. Danone says ongoing restructuring will stabilize its performance in Europe by the end of 2014.

Source: Associated Press

First Thing Today: Impact of Trump's Cuba Policy Changes

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 04:42:03 GMT

Followthrough buying in soybeans and wheat overnight... Corn futures are fractionally lower after favoring the downside overnight. Soybeans enjoyed gains overnight and as of 6:30 a.m. CT most contracts are 2 to 3 cents higher. Winter wheat futures are up 4 to 6 cents on followthrough buying after yesterday’s bullish reversal for the SRW wheat market. Spring wheat futures are 4 to 7 cents higher. The U.S. dollar index is slightly lower, while crude oil futures are firmer.

Trump to scale back trade opening with Cuba... President Donald Trump will issue a policy directive today aimed at scaling back some of the changes made by former President Barack Obama to U.S./Cuba policy, taking aim at tourist travel and transactions with Cuba’s military but leaving in several of Obama’s steps toward normalization. Trump will direct the Treasury and Commerce departments to prohibit direct financial transactions with Cuba’s military and intelligence services. The directive will allow exceptions for airlines and cruise lines and will aim to not disrupt business under way. Much rests on how final regulations are crafted; the announcement will trigger a 30-day process for Treasury and Commerce to begin drafting new regulations, and the changes won’t go into effect until that process is completed. The countries’ embassies will remain open. Individual travel will remain legal through more than 10 categories, including research and humanitarian work and family visits.

Impact of Trump’s Cuba policy changes... Trump had promised on the campaign trail to roll back Obama’s policy changes on Cuba, and officials say his announcements are aimed at following through on that. White House officials signaled that Trump will retain portions of the policy shift that has won the endorsement of those in agricultural states that want to expand trade with Cuba. While they say the coming changes should not impact U.S. farm product sales to Cuba, the new restrictions will bar U.S. companies from doing business with companies affiliated with the Cuban military. That would make future U.S. ag export sales more difficult.” Why? U.S. food and ag cargoes are unloaded at Mariel, about 25 miles west of Havana. The Cuban military runs the port, so a prohibition on dealing with military-related companies would shut off use of the port.

Strike disrupts shipments at Argentine port... Members of the CGT San Lorenzo Port workers union launched an open-ended strike on Wednesday, causing more than 20 grain cargo ships to drop anchor along Argentina’s Parana River yesterday. Strikes are common in South America, and they are typically short-lived.

Better demand at Chinese corn auction... China sold 1.254 MMT of corn from its state reserves today, which represents 58.5% of the grain offered. The bulk of the business was for 2013-crop corn, which sold at an average price of 1,366 yuan ($200.48) per metric ton. This was much improved from yesterday’s light sales.

Competitive Black Sea prices should blunt impact of smaller wheat crop on exports... Analysts polled by Reuters expect the Black Sea countries of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakstan to produce 105.8 MMT of wheat in 2017, which would be a decline of 7.5% from year-ago. This is expected to result in a 3.3% drop in exports to 50.4 MMT in 2017-18. Russia will likely ship a record 28.8 MMT of wheat in 2017-18, up 4.7% from year-ago, as competitive prices and high stockpiles should make up for a smaller crop size. Ukraine is expected to ship 14.6 MMT of wheat, which would be down 3.2 MMT from USDA’s forecast for the current marketing year. Kazakhstan is likely to export 7.0 MMT of wheat, according to the survey, up 2.9% from year-ago.

French crop condition ratings slide... FranceAgriMer now rates 74% of the soft wheat crop in good to excellent condition, a one-point drop from week-ago. It also lowered the amount of top-rated winter and spring barley to 65% and 73%, respectively. Sixty-two percent of the durum wheat crop is now rated good to excellent, down two points from week-ago. The French farm office rates 86% of its corn crop in top shape, down a point from last week. Hot, dry conditions have taken a toll on crops in this major producing region.

Dow-DuPont garners U.S. antitrust approval to create new firm... Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. won U.S. antitrust approval for their $73-billion merger. The companies said the assets they agreed to sell to win U.S. approval didn’t go beyond what they had already agreed to with other jurisdictions. DuPont will sell off some of its herbicide and insecticide products and Dow will unload a plastics packaging unit, according to a settlement filed Thursday in federal court in Washington. The new company will be called DowDuPont Inc. They are expected to close the deal in August. The plan is to split the merged company into three within 18 months of closing, with the first spinoff a materials/science company that will retain the Dow name. The other two post-split companies will focus on ag and specialty products.

More cash cattle trade at softer prices... Some additional cash cattle trade took place in Nebraska at $124 to $125 and in the Iowa/Minnesota market at $126, which is down from trade earlier in the week that mostly ranged from $130 to $134. This signals recent declines in futures prices upped feedlots’ bargaining power. Futures are still below even this latest drop in the cash market.

Slaughter moderates as margins dwindle... Packer profit margins have slipped into the upper teens this week, as gains in the cash market have outpaced those of the product market. This week’s kill has also slowed from last week’s aggressive pace, though slaughter is still running ahead of year-ago levels.

Overnight demand news... Pakistan recently purchased around 60,000 MT of soybeans that will likely be sourced from the U.S. or Brazil.

Today’s reports:

None.