Total red meat supplies in freezers on June 30 were up 1% from the previous month but down 12% from last year, according to the monthly Cold Storage report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Wednesday.
Total frozen poultry supplies were up 4% from the previous month but down 3% from a year ago.
BEEF SUPPLIES UP
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 428.122 million pounds, were up 10.766 million, or 2.58%, from 417.356 million the previous month and up 22.477 million, or 5.54%, from 405.645 million last year.
Of that, 396.482 million pounds were boneless beef, up 6.140 million, or 1.57%, from 390.342 million a month earlier and up 24.287 million, or 6.53%, from 372.195 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of beef cuts in cold storage were 31.640 million, up 4.626 million, or 17.1%, from 29.014 million a month earlier but down 1.810 million, or 5.41%, from 33.450 million a year earlier.
PORK SUPPLIES DECLINE
Frozen pork supplies, at 464.373 million pounds, were down 3.554 million, or 0.76%, from 467.927 million the previous month and down 155.081 million, or 25.0%, from 619.454 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 55.537 million pounds, were down 4.785 million, or 7.93%, from 60.322 million last month and down 931,000, or 1.65%, from 56.468 million last year.
Loins in cold storage totaled 32.537 million pounds, up 5.035 million, or 18.3%, from 27.502 million a month earlier but down 14.141 million, or 30.3%, from 46.678 million a year ago.
Bone-in loins on ice totaled 15.612 million pounds, up 2.417 million, or 18.3%, from 13.195 million a month earlier but down 6.523 million, or 29.5%, from 22.135 million a year earlier.
Boneless loins in cold storage totaled 16.925 million pounds, up 2.618 million, or 18.3%, from 14.307 million a month earlier but down 7.620 million, or 31.0%, from 24.545 million a year earlier.
Hams in US freezers totaled 124.301 million pounds, up 16.751 million, or 15.6%, from 107.550 million a month earlier but down 44.298 million, or 26.3%, from 168.599 million a year earlier.
POULTRY STOCKS MIXED
Total stocks of chicken, at 854.960 million pounds, were down 3.276 million, or 0.38%, from 858.236 million the previous month but up 18.745 million, or 2.24%, from 836.215 million last year.
Whole broilers, fryers and roasting chickens totaled 23.153 million pounds, down 380,000, or 1.61%, from 23.533 million a month earlier but up 1.647 million, or 7.66%, from 21.506 million a year earlier.
Breasts and breast meat in cold storage at the end of June totaled 214.701 million pounds, down 3.637 million, or 1.67%from 218.338 million a month earlier but up from 178.494 million a year earlier.
Leg quarters totaled 66.066 million pounds, compared with 73.632 million a month earlier and 54.022 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers, at 473.670 million pounds, were up 53.541 million, or 12.7%, from 420.129 million last month but down 65.044 million, or 12.1%, from 538.714 million on June 30, 2019.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Fed cattle trade was reported this week at $95 to $98 per cwt on a live basis, up $1 to down $2 from last week’s range. Dressed-basis trading was at $158 per cwt, up $1 to down $2.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was up $0.27 per cwt at $201.15, while select was off $2.02 at $189.28. The choice/select spread widened to $11.87 from $9.58 with 87 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $136.42 per cwt, down $0.06. This compares with Wednesday’s Aug contract settlement of $141.52, up $0.20.