Frozen US beef stocks on Aug. 31 went up from a year earlier but were down from July 31, while frozen pork inventories were down from last month and from last year, the USDA reported in its September Cold Storage report Friday.
Chicken supplies in cold storage were up from last year but were down from July 31, the USDA said.
BEEF RESERVES MIXED
Stocks of beef in cold storage on Aug. 31 were 393.802 million pounds, down 4.001 million, or 1.01%, from 397.803 million a month earlier but up 5.909 million, or 1.52%, from 387.893 million a year earlier.
Of that, 354.716 million pounds were classed as “boneless” beef, down 2.314 million, or 0.65%, from 357.030 million a month earlier but up 7.637 million, or 2.20%, from 347.079 million a year earlier.
Another 39.086 million pounds were classed as “beef cuts.” This was down 1.687 million, or 4.14%, from 40.773 million in July and down 1.728 million, or 4.23%, from 40.814 million in August of 2024.
TOTAL PORK STOCKS DOWN
Total stocks of pork on ice at the end of August were 393.893 million pounds, down 10.738 million, or 2.66%, from 404.631 million a month earlier and down 61.367 million, or 13.5%, from 455.260 million a year ago.
Of that, pork bellies in cold storage totaled 23.634 million pounds, down 8.065 million, or 25.4%, from 31.699 million a month ago and down 2.189 million, or 8.48%, from 25.823 million a year ago.
Another 130.045 million pounds were hams, up 3.807 million, or 3.02%, from 126.238 million a month earlier but down 21.229 million, or 14.0%, from 151.274 million a year earlier.
Total loins in cold storage were 32.400 million pounds, down 1.143 million, or 3.41%, from 33.543 million in July and down 2.541 million, or 7.27%, from 34.941 million in August 2024.
Frozen pork ribs accounted for 55.836 million pounds of the total, down 5.834 million, or 9.46%, from 61.670 million a month earlier and down 3.882 million, or 6.50%, from 59.718 million a year earlier.
FROZEN CHICKEN STOCKS MIXED
Chicken supplies on ice Aug. 31 totaled 790.938 million pounds, down 15.077 million, or 1.87%, from 806.015 million a month earlier but up 32.387 million, or 4.27%, from 758.551 million a year earlier.
Of that, breasts and breast meat totaled 240.494 million pounds, down 2.685 million, or 1.10%, from 243.179 million a month earlier but up 35.066 million, or 17.1%, from 205.428 million a year earlier.
Another 56.923 million pounds was leg quarters, up 1.138 million, or 2.04%, from 55.785 million a month earlier but down 5.629 million, or 9.00%, from 62.552 million a year earlier.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers last week ranged from $238.09 per cwt to $244.00, compared with the previous week’s range of $238.00 to $245.28 per cwt. FOB dressed steers and heifers went for $374.83 per cwt to $379.73, compared with $375.80 to $385.32.
The USDA choice cutout Friday was down $5.54 per cwt at $371.43 while select was down $1.01 at $352.44. The choice/select spread widened to $18.99 from $18.52 with 65 loads of fabricated product and 30 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef as $431.47 per cwt, and 50% beef was $146.06.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.10 to $1.25 a bushel over the Dec corn contract, which settled at $4.22, down $0.03 3/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Thursday was $365.04 per cwt, up $0.94. This compares with Friday’s Oct contract settlement of $357.00, up $2.95.