Total red meat supplies in US freezers on April 30 were down bout 3% from the previous month and down 17% from last year, according to the monthly Cold Storage report.
That report, from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, also said total frozen poultry supplies on that date were down slightly from the March report and down about 20% from a year ago.
BEEF STOCKS DOWN
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 453.616 million pounds, were down 29.388 million, or 6.08%, from 483.004 million the previous month and down 25.840 million, or 5.39%, from 479.456 million last year.
Of that, 418.735 million pounds were boneless beef, down 31.941 million, or 7.09%, from 450.676 million a month earlier and down 29.879 million, or 6.66%, from 448.614 million a year earlier.
Beef cuts in cold storage totaled 34.881 million pounds, up 2.553 million, or 7.90%, from 32.328 million a month earlier and up 4.039 million, or 13.1%, from 30.842 million a year earlier.
PORK STOCKS MIXED
Frozen pork supplies, at 455.262 million pounds, were up 4.242 million, or 0.94%, from 451.020 million the previous month but down 155.960 million, or 25.5%, from 611.222 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies totaled 34.202 million pounds, down 1.196 million, or 3.38%, from 35.398 million last month and down 46.526 million, or 57.6%, from 80.728 million last year.
Total hams in cold storage amounted to 81.301 million pounds, up 20.525 million, or 33.8%, from 60.776 million a month ago but down 32.027 million, or 28.3%, from 113.328 million a year ago.
Pork loins in cold storage April 30 totaled 46.256 million pounds, down from 47.628 million a month earlier but up from 40.517 million a year earlier.
Pork ribs in cold storage totaled 99.105 million pounds, down 1.605 million, or 1.59%, from 100.710 million a month earlier and down 16.938 million, or 14.6%, from 116.043 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN STOCKS DOWN
Total stores of chicken in cold storage April 30 came to 723.834 million pounds, down 16.029 million, or 2.17%, from 739.863 million on March 31 and down 209.664 million, or 22.5%, from 933.498 million on April 30, 2020.
Of that, whole broilers totaled 14.973 million pounds, up 1.870 million, or 14.3%, from 13.103 million a month earlier but down 7.572 million, or 33.6%, from 22.545 million a year earlier.
Breasts and breast meat stores totaled 199.479 million pounds, down 4.407 million, or 2.16%, from 203.886 million a month earlier and down 45.435 million, or 18.6%, from 244.914 million a year earlier.
Leg quarters totaled 59.907 million pounds, up from March’s 57.916 million but down from a year ago’s 75.127 million.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Fed cattle traded this week at $119 to $120 per cwt on a live bases, steady with last week. Dressed-basis trading last week was at $189 to $191 per cwt, steady to down $1.50.
The USDA choice cutout Monday was up $2.66 per cwt at $327.83, while select was up $1.08 at $303.39. The choice/select spread widened to $24.44 from $22.86 with 70 loads of fabricated product and 30 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA reported Monday that basis bids for corn from livestock feeding operations in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.05 to $1.17 a bushel over the Jul futures, which settled at $6.57 1/4 a bushel, down $0.02 1/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Thursday was $135.66 per cwt up $0.46. This compares with Monday’s May contract settlement of $136.27 per cwt, down $0.95 and Aug’s $154.12, up $0.42.