Total red meat supplies in freezers on Jan. 31 were up about 4% from a month earlier but down about 11% from last year, said the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report Monday.
The report initially was scheduled for release on Friday but was delayed because of technical issues at the USDA.
Total frozen poultry supplies on Jan. 31 were up about 1% from the previous month but down about 4% from a year ago. Total stocks of chicken were down about 5% from the previous month and down about 7% from last year.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers were up about 24% from last month and up about 4% from Jan. 31, 2023.
FROZEN BEEF STOCKS DOWN
Total pounds of beef in freezers were 475.362 million pounds, down 4.939 million, or 1.03%, from 480.301 million the previous month and down 59.796 million, or 11.2%, from 535.158 million last year.
Of that, 432.935 million pounds were classed as “boneless” beef, down 3.825 million, or 0.88%, from 436.760 million a month earlier and down 60.538 million, or 12.3%, from 493.473 million a year earlier.
Another 42.427 million pounds was classed as “beef cuts,” down 1.114 million, or 2.56%, from 43.541 million on Dec. 31 but up 742,000, or 1.78%, from 41.685 million on Jan. 31, 2023.
FROZEN PORK STOCKS MIXED
Frozen pork supplies of 468.037 million pounds were up 40.641 million, or 9.51%, from 427.396 million the previous month but down 51.108 million, or 9.84%, from 519.145 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies were up 8.027 million pounds, or 14.3%, at 64.045 million pounds from 56.018 million last month but down 5.946 million, or 8.50%, from 69.991 million last year.
Another 75.245 million pounds was hams, up 19.241 million, or 34.4%, from 56.004 million a month earlier but down 3.349 million, or 4.26%, from 78.594 million a year earlier.
Frozen pork loins totaled 44.411 million pounds, up 2.009 million, or 4.74%, from 42.402 million in December but down 687,000, or 1.52%, from 45.098 million in January 2023.
The total amount of pork ribs on ice came to 89.168 million pounds, up 8.660 million, or 10.8%, from 80.508 million a month earlier but down 29.200, or 24.7%, from 118.368 million a year earlier.
FROZEN CHICKEN STOCKS DOWN
Frozen chicken supplies on Jan. 31 of 831.606 million pounds were down 44.051 million, or 5.03%, from 875.657 million a month earlier and down 37.939 million, or 4.36%, from 869.545 million a year earlier.
Frozen breasts and breast meat totaled 235.414 million pounds, down 8.100 million from 243.514 million a month earlier and down 5.784 million from 241.198 million last year.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $183.46 per cwt to $183.51, compared with last week’s range of $175.66 to $184.50 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $286.73 per cwt to $288.58, compared with $282.97 to $288.11.
The USDA choice cutout Monday was up $1.18 per cwt at $301.79 while select was up $1.68 at $287.99. The choice/select spread narrowed to $13.80 from $14.30 with 61 loads of fabricated product and 22 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.35 to $1.45 a bushel over the Mar corn contract, which settled at $4.07 a bushel, up $0.07 1/4.
One heifer contract was retendered at one Monday for delivery against the Feb live cattle contract.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Friday was $246.64 per cwt, up $1.96. This compares with Monday’s Mar contract settlement of $253.05, down $1.52 and Apr’s $258.90, down $1.07.