Item 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

The Company is exposed to various forms of market risk as a part of its ongoing business practices. The Company utilizes derivative instruments to mitigate earnings fluctuations due to market volatility.

Hog Markets: The Company’s earnings are affected by fluctuations in the live hog market. To minimize the impact on earnings, and ensure a steady supply of quality hogs, the Company has entered into contracts with producers for the purchase of hogs at formula-based prices over periods of up to 10 years. Hogs purchased under contract accounted for 98 and 94 percent of the total hogs purchased by the Company during the first quarter of fiscal years 2022 and 2021, respectively. The majority of these contracts use market-based formulas based on hog futures, hog primal values, or industry reported hog markets. Other contracts use a formula based on the cost of production, which can fluctuate independently from hog markets. The Company’s value-added branded portfolio helps mitigate changes in hog and pork market prices. Therefore, a hypothetical 10 percent change in the cash hog market would have had an immaterial effect on the Company’s results of operations.

The Company utilizes a hedge program to reduce exposure and offset the fluctuations in the Company's future direct hog purchases. This program utilizes lean hog futures which are accounted for under cash flow hedge accounting. The fair value of the Company's open futures contracts in this program as of January 30, 2022 was $9.2 million compared to $(0.2) million as of October 31, 2021. The Company measures its market risk exposure on its lean hog futures contracts using a sensitivity analysis, which considers a hypothetical 10 percent change in the market prices for lean hogs. A 10 percent decrease in the market price for lean hogs would have negatively impacted the fair value of the Company's January 30, 2022, open lean hog contracts by $10.3 million, which in turn would lower the Company's future cost on purchased hogs by a similar amount.

Turkey Production Costs: The Company raises or contracts for live turkeys to meet the majority of its raw material supply requirements. Production costs in raising turkeys are subject primarily to fluctuations in feed prices, and to a lesser extent, fuel costs. Under normal, long-term market conditions, changes in the cost to produce turkeys are offset by proportional changes in the turkey market.

The Company utilizes a hedge program to reduce exposure and offset the fluctuation in the Company's future direct grain purchases. This program utilizes grain futures, swaps, and options for Jennie-O Turkey Store, and these contracts are accounted for under cash flow hedge accounting. The fair value of the Company’s open grain contracts as of January 30, 2022, was $28.4 million compared to $25.5 million as of October 31, 2021. The Company measures its market risk exposure on its grain contracts using a sensitivity analysis, which considers a hypothetical 10 percent change in the market prices for grain. A 10 percent decrease in the market price for grain would have negatively impacted the fair value of the Company’s January 30, 2022, open grain contracts by $15.9 million, which in turn would lower the Company’s future cost on purchased grain by a similar amount.

Interest Rate Risk: The Company is subject to interest rate risk primarily from changes in fair value of long-term fixed rate debt. As of January 30, 2022, the Company’s long-term debt had a carrying amount of $3,309.2 million compared to $3,315.1 million as of October 31, 2021. The Company measures its market risk exposure of long-term fixed rate debt using a sensitivity analysis, which considers a 10 percent change in interest rates. As of January 30, 2022, a 10 percent decrease in interest rates would have positively impacted the fair value of the Company’s long-term debt by $69.0 million, while a 10 percent increase would have negatively impacted the long-term debt by $65.7 million.

To reduce the risk of changes in fair value of long-term debt, the Company has entered into an interest rate swap on a portion of the debt that receives a fixed rate and pays a variable rate. The notional amount of the Company's interest rate swap, which is designated and qualifies as a fair value hedge, is $450.0 million. The Company measures its market risk exposure on interest rate contracts using sensitivity analysis, which considers a hypothetical change of 25 basis points in the underlying benchmark interest rate. A hypothetical change in the benchmark interest rate of 25 basis points would have minimal impact on the Company's interest expense.

Other Input Costs: The costs of raw materials, packaging materials, freight, fuel, and energy may cause the Company's results to fluctuate significantly. To manage input cost volatility, the Company pursues cost saving measures, forward pricing, derivatives, and pricing actions when necessary.

Investments: The Company has corporate-owned life insurance policies classified as trading securities as part of a rabbi trust to fund certain supplemental executive retirement plans and deferred income plans. As of January 30, 2022, the balance of these securities totaled $197.6 million compared to $203.0 million as of October 31, 2021. The rabbi trust is invested primarily in fixed income funds. The Company is subject to market risk due to fluctuations in the value of the remaining investments as unrealized gains and losses associated with these securities are included in the Company’s net earnings on a mark-to-market basis. A 10 percent decline in the value of the investments not held in fixed income funds would have a negative impact to the Company’s pretax earnings of approximately $9.5 million, while a 10 percent increase in value would have a positive impact of the same amount.

International Assets: The fair values of certain Company assets are subject to fluctuations in foreign currencies. The Company's net asset position in foreign currencies as of January 30, 2022 was $623.4 million, compared to $657.2 million as of October 31, 2021, with most of the exposure existing in Chinese yuan and Brazilian real. Changes in currency exchange rates impact the fair values of the Company assets either currently through the Consolidated Statements of Operations within Interest and Investment Income or through the Consolidated Condensed Statements of Financial Position within Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss.

The Company measures its foreign currency exchange risk by using a 10 percent sensitivity analysis on the Company's primary foreign net asset position, the Chinese yuan and Brazilian real, as of January 30, 2022. A 10 percent strengthening in the value of the Chinese yuan relative to the U.S. dollar would result in other comprehensive income of approximately $40.9 million pretax. A 10 percent weakening in the value of the Chinese yuan relative to the U.S. dollar would result in other comprehensive loss of approximately $33.5 million pretax. A 10 percent strengthening in the value of the Brazilian real relative to the U.S. dollar would result in other comprehensive income of approximately $11.8 million pretax. A 10 percent weakening in the value of the Brazilian real relative to the U.S. dollar would result in other comprehensive loss of approximately $9.6 million pretax.