Derivative Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Sep. 28, 2019

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Our business operations give rise to certain market risk exposures mostly due to changes in commodity prices, foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. We manage a portion of these risks through the use of derivative financial instruments to reduce our exposure to commodity price risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk. Our risk management programs are periodically reviewed by our Board of Directors' Audit Committee. These programs are monitored by senior management and may be revised as market conditions dictate. Our current risk management programs utilize industry-standard models that take into account the implicit cost of hedging. Risks associated with our market risks and those created by derivative instruments and the fair values are strictly monitored, using value-at-risk and stress tests. Credit risks associated with our derivative contracts are not significant as we minimize counterparty concentrations, utilize margin accounts or letters of credit, and deal with credit-worthy counterparties. Additionally, our derivative contracts are mostly short-term in duration and we generally do not make use of credit-risk-related contingent features. No significant concentrations of credit risk existed at September 28, 2019.

We had the following aggregated outstanding notional amounts related to our derivative financial instruments:



		in millions, except soy meal tons
	Metric	September 28, 2019		September 29, 2018
Commodity:
Corn	Bushels	111		112
Soy Meal	Tons	1,078,800		651,700
Live Cattle	Pounds	14		105
Lean Hogs	Pounds	309		39
Foreign Currency	United States dollar	$	148	$	89
Interest Rate Swaps	Average monthly debt	$	400	$	400

We recognize all derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities at fair value in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, with the exception of normal purchases and normal sales expected to result in physical delivery. For those derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as hedging instruments, we designate the hedging instrument based upon the exposure being hedged (i.e., cash flow hedge or fair value hedge). We designate certain forward contracts as follows:


•	Cash Flow Hedges – include certain commodity forward and option contracts of forecasted purchases (i.e., grains), interest rate swaps and locks, and certain foreign exchange forward contracts.


•	Fair Value Hedges – include certain commodity forward contracts of firm commitments (i.e., livestock).

Cash flow hedges

Derivative instruments are designated as hedges against changes in the amount of future cash flows related to procurement of certain commodities utilized in our production processes as well as interest rates to our variable rate debt. For the derivative instruments we designate and qualify as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of other comprehensive income ("OCI") and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. Gains and losses representing hedge ineffectiveness are recognized in earnings in the current period. Ineffectiveness related to our cash flow hedges was not significant during fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017. As of September 28, 2019, we have net pretax losses of $8 million for our commodity contracts, and $3 million pretax losses related to our interest swaps, which are expected to be reclassified into earnings within the next 12 months. Additionally, we incurred $19 million of realized losses related to treasury rate locks in connection with the issuance of the 2026, 2029 and 2048 Notes, which will be reclassified to earnings over the lives of these notes. During fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, we did not reclassify significant pretax gains or losses into earnings as a result of the discontinuance of cash flow hedges.

The following table sets forth the pretax impact of cash flow hedge derivative instruments in the Consolidated Statements of Income:



														in millions
	Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI on Derivatives									Consolidated Statements of Income Classification	Gain (Loss) Reclassified from OCI to Earnings
	2019			2018			2017				2019			2018			2017
Cash Flow Hedge – Derivatives designated as hedging instruments:
Commodity contracts	$	(15	)	$	(21	)	$	(3	)	Cost of Sales	$	(18	)	$	(12	)	$	(4	)
Interest rate hedges	(24		)	1			—			Interest expense	(1		)	—			—
Total	$	(39	)	$	(20	)	$	(3	)		$	(19	)	$	(12	)	$	(4	)

Fair value hedges

We designate certain derivative contracts as fair value hedges of firm commitments to purchase livestock for harvest. Our objective of these hedges is to minimize the risk of changes in fair value created by fluctuations in commodity prices associated with fixed price livestock firm commitments. For these derivative instruments we designate and qualify as a fair value hedge, the gain or loss on the derivative, as well as the offsetting gain or loss on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk, are recognized in earnings in the same period. We include the gain or loss on the hedged items (i.e., livestock purchase firm commitments) in the same line item, Cost of Sales, as the offsetting gain or loss on the related livestock forward position.



		in millions
	Consolidated Statements of Income Classification	2019			2018			2017
Gain (Loss) on forwards	Cost of Sales	$	42		$	12		$	(20	)
Gain (Loss) on purchase contract	Cost of Sales	(42		)	(12		)	20

Ineffectiveness related to our fair value hedges was not significant during fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Undesignated positions

In addition to our designated positions, we also hold derivative contracts for which we do not apply hedge accounting. These include certain derivative instruments related to commodities price risk, including grains, livestock, energy and foreign currency risk. We mark these positions to fair value through earnings at each reporting date.

The following table sets forth the pretax impact of the undesignated derivative instruments in the Consolidated Statements of Income:



					in millions
	Consolidated Statements of Income Classification	Gain (Loss) Recognized in Earnings
		2019			2018			2017
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments:
Commodity contracts	Sales	$	(23	)	$	18		$	111
Commodity contracts	Cost of Sales	2			(33		)	(95		)
Foreign exchange contracts	Other Income/Expense	8			(3		)	—
Total		$	(13	)	$	(18	)	$	16

The fair value of all outstanding derivative instruments in the Consolidated Balance Sheets are included in Note 13: Fair Value Measurements.