Demand for Pork Drives Bid

Demand for Pork Drives Bid?
I’m Greg Martin with the Market Line Report for Monday, July 22, 2013.

Demand for pork in China is growing and Mindi Schneider, Cornell University researcher, says that China's bid for Smithfield is just one of many avenues that nation is exploring to meet the growing demand for pork by Chinese consumers.

SCHNEIDER: One of the challenges of increasing production and consumption of that is that China has 21% of the world’s population and only 9% of the world’s arable land. And of course producing meat is a much more land and resource intensive process than producing crops for instance. So the way that China has been able to increase its pork production is largely though importing feed. And so I think buying Smithfield would be another way to insure a supply of pork for China.

Now checking some prices from yesterday:

Chicago September Wheat ended Thurs sday up 4 at 6-64 1/2.

September corn up 3 cents at 5-44.??Portland prices for soft white wheat and club wheat were up 4 at mostly 7.26.

Hard Red Winter Wheat with 11.5 pct protein prices were unchanged to up 8 at mostly 8-10 and 1/4.

DNS wheat with 14 pct protein prices were up a quarter at mostly 8-54 and 1/2. ??August live cattle were up 1 1/4 Wednesday at 121-97.

August Feeder cattle were up 17 and 1/2 at 152.25 and a half.

August class III milk was up 37 cents at 18.26.

That’s todays Marketline On the Ag Information Network.