(Reuters) —Cargill Inc.’s quarterly earnings fell 42 percent as a historic U.S. drought pressured its meat processing operations.
Cargill, one of the world’s largest privately held corporations, reported net earnings of $445 million for the fiscal 2013 third quarter ended Feb. 28, compared to $766 million for the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the third quarter was up one percent at $32.2 billion, the company said in a statement.
Cargill, one of the nation’s largest beef processors, has been warning since last summer that the worst U.S. drought in more than half a century would hurt its meat business by raising costs for grain fed to livestock.
