Smithfield Records Loss & Too Close to Call

Wednesday Dec 11th, 2013 35 Views Northwest Report

Smithfield Records Loss & Too Close to Call plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Who is the U.S. largest trading partner for ag products? It may be too close to call according to USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber.

GLAUBER: China again will be close to our number one export destination. It looked like in August it would fall back behind Canada but they're neck and neck again at least in terms of our forecast. We're showing our exports to China estimated at $21.5-billion and our exports to Canada around $21.6-billion so very, very close.

Mexico looks to be in third place with around $18.5-billion dollars in agricultural products.

Smithfield Foods Inc reports losses of 4.2-million dollars in the company's second fiscal quarter on decreased operating profit in its pork segment and 52-million dollars in costs associated with the merger with Shuanghui (shawn-way) International Holdings. The loss compares with net income of 10.9-million dollars in the year-earlier period. Pork segment operating profit decreased 123.8-million dollars. Sales in the quarter did rise to 3.4-billion from 3.2-billion dollars.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

This time of year can and does bring out the best and the worst in human nature. Many people find joy in being able to help those less fortunate than themselves. Sadly, there are a large number of people who are quite ready, willing, and able to take advantage of that. Mailboxes are full of requests for donations from local and national charities. Phone solicitors are busy with the same kind of requests. So how do you go about protecting yourself from bogus charity groups without becoming a complete and total scrooge? An excellent way is to know your non-profit. A common practice by many scammers now days is to give prospective donor victims a name that sounds like a well known and respected charity. Before you give to a group claiming to be a non-profit be sure to check them out. Many states have an outreach campaign to educate donors in the ways of "giving wisely", offering videos, brochures, handouts, and checklist tablets for telephone solicitations. These resources are free and usually available on-line or can be mailed to your home or business. By all means give to those in need this holiday season, but remember, "give wisely".

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.