AGCO posts lower profit as falling crop prices hit farmers

Oct 29, 2014

Reuters - Agco Corp posted a lower quarterly profit on Tuesday as growers around the globe, faced with falling prices for farm commodities, purchased fewer tractors and harvesters.

The company, which makes equipment sold under the Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra brand names, reported a third-quarter net profit of $65.0 million, or 69 cents a share, down from $125.2 million, or $1.27 a share, during the comparable quarter last year.

Revenue fell 13 percent to $2.2 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected the Duluth, Georgia-based company to post a profit of 62 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by James B. Kelleher in Chicago; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Video: What Does 20 MILLION Hogs a Year Look Like?

?? The Multi-Plant System Processing 20 Million Hogs Annually in the Midwest JBS USA operates multiple large-scale pork processing facilities across the Midwest, including major plants in Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana. Combined, these facilities have the capacity to process approximately 20 million hogs annually.

Each plant operates high-speed automated slaughter systems capable of processing up to 20,000 head per day, followed by fabrication lines that break carcasses into primals, sub-primals, and case-ready retail products.

Hog procurement is coordinated through electronic marketing platforms that connect regional contract finishing operations and independent producers to plant demand schedules. This digital procurement system allows for steady supply flow and scheduling efficiency across multiple facilities.

Processing plants incorporate comprehensive food safety systems, including pathogen intervention technologies, rapid chilling processes, and integrated cold-chain management. USDA inspection is embedded throughout the harvest and fabrication stages to ensure regulatory compliance and product integrity. Finished pork products — from bulk primals to retail-ready packaged cuts — are distributed through coordinated logistics networks serving domestic and export markets.