Tyson Foods To Hike Prices due to Feed Corn Prices???

[HStream1]

Wonder why? Maybe because of the corn selling for Ethanol production instead of feed?? We're getting Green alright .

http://www.stltoday.com/business/nat...b395bca1b.html

Tyson Foods said Monday that its second-quarter earnings were unchanged from a year ago because higher feed costs offset improving demand and higher meat prices.
The company raised prices for chicken, beef and pork, indicating that higher global grain costs are finally working their way to the grocery store meat counter.
CEO Donnie Smith warned investors that the meat industry is still facing at least months of volatility. Higher gasoline prices could crimp consumer demand. At the same time, Tyson's profits could be squeezed by higher input costs. The company expects feed costs alone to be about $500 million higher during the second half of the fiscal year than they were in 2010.
"We have a wall of costs heading toward us," Smith told analysts during a conference call.
Its shares tumbled 95 cents, or 5 percent, to $17.94 in morning trading.
The company reported net income was $156 million, or 42 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31. That's unchanged from $156 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier.
The earnings were slightly below the average forecast from analysts surveyed by FactSet of 43 cents per share.
Tyson Foods Inc.'s revenue climbed 16 percent to $8 billion. Analysts expected $7.52 billion. The company said it sold more chicken and pork, but operating income fell 12 percent to $303 million as grain prices rose.
The company said beef prices shot up nearly 20 percent while pork prices jumped 18 percent and chicken prices rose 3.7 percent compared with last year. Prices for prepared foods rose 11 percent. Overall, prices rose 12 percent across the company's product lines.
It takes months for higher grain prices to work their way to the grocery store because raw ingredients account for just a fraction of the total cost of food. But meat companies tend to pass on the higher prices first, in part because their products are sold fresh.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts overall meat prices will rise between 6 and 7 percent this year.
Raising prices is key to Tyson's profitability, because the price of corn is trading near all-time highs. Feed costs are the biggest expense for raising chickens and livestock, and meat companies have been hard pressed to pass on those costs to struggling consumers.
But it appears the market is finally able to support higher prices, with sales volumes rising for chicken and pork, while beef sales fell less than 1 percent amid the price hikes.
Tyson said prepared foods sales fell 4.6 percent during the quarter, indicating that demand is still relatively weak for Tyson's more expensive, and profitable, products like pre-cooked chicken nuggets. But the lower volumes were offset by an 11.1 percent price hike.
Smith said Tyson expects to match last year's record net income of $780 million as demand stays strong through the rest of the year.

[h2oskiier30]

Yep....the ethanol requirements that were supposed to help with our dependence on foreign oil, are not only NOT helping with fuel prices, but they're also driving the cost of food up, too.

Who knew that "going green" meant all the "green" leaving your wallet?

Thanks, EPA and Washington DC.

[Forkin' Crazy]

You betcha!!! Nothing to do with the falling value of the US dollar and ever increasing global demand for corn.

[Forkin' Crazy]

"Vilsack: no correlation between food prices and ethanol"

http://deltafarmpress.com/government...es-and-ethanol

[mirage243]

Two years ago I was buying shelled corn for 3.75 per bag as long as I bought a ton. Last year it was averaging 6-6.50 per bag. Right now it is 9.75 per bag when you can get it.

F*ck the EPA, F*CK Al Gore, F*ck going green and F*ck Ethanol

[resqu-u]

"Who knew that "going green" meant all the "green" leaving your wallet?" We have been paying almost 7 dollars a gallon for milk here in PR for the past 4 years. I guess we won't notice a slight rise in food prices when we get back?? but I know both sides of the family have been feeling the economic crunch for sometime. Makes me angry

[Hydrophobic guy]

I remember several people on this site who posted that ethanol from corn would have no effect on food stocks as it wasn't corn humans consume. I said yah, but, the animals we eat do. Care to post your vast knowledge about ethanol now fellas? Unless they all get taken away by aliens we are so screwed with all the fools we currently have running this country.

[CDave]

Since no one has said it yet. IT'S OBAMA'S FAULT!!!

[Forkin' Crazy]

I remember several people on this site who posted that ethanol from corn would have no effect on food stocks as it wasn't corn humans consume. I said yah, but, the animals we eat do. Care to post your vast knowledge about ethanol now fellas? Unless they all get taken away by aliens we are so screwed with all the fools we currently have running this country.

DG, aka "Distillers Grains". http://www.distillersgrains.org/

So easy to over look!

If you really want to "get down to where the rubber meets the road", feeding livestock grain is VERY, VERY inefficient.

We should all be eating corn bread and fish...

[Forkin' Crazy]

NO BUSH'S!!!!

Since no one has said it yet. IT'S OBAMA'S FAULT!!!

[CDave]

We should all be eating corn bread and fish...

OK, sounds good to me.

[CDave]

NO BUSH'S!!!!

Might be Hillary and Bill they are buddy's with the Tyson people. That's it she's just getting her buddy's in the chicken business rich! It's BIG Chicken sticking it to the poor.
Yah know just like Bush and Cheney did with Exxon. Shoot Bush is so powerful and smart even though he's not president anymore he's still making his oil buddies rich. Just amazing.

[h2oskiier30]

Bottom line...farmers are going to defend ethanol because it's lining their pockets, and everyone else will see it for the sham it is.

Take the federal subsidies (ie: taxpayer dollars, or in other words WELFARE) away from ethanol, and it will die a quick death.

[Da Bull]

Diesel was cheap untill it got popular.

[j_martin]

For those of us that went through the Carter stagflation, hang on, it's back. This one's gonna be a real sumbiotch. Yee-ha.