Total red meat supplies in freezers on April 30 were up about 4% from the previous month and up about 16% from last year, according to the monthly Cold Storage report.
Total frozen poultry supplies were up about 1% from the previous month and up about 1% from a year ago.
BEEF STOCKS MIXED
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 531.728 million pounds, were down 4.111 million, or 0.77%, from 535.839 million the previous month but up 82.874 million, or 18.5%, from 448.854 million last year.
Of that, 483.209 million pounds was boneless beef, down 3.238 million, or 0.67%, from 486.447 million a month earlier but up 69.243 million, or 16.7%, from 413.966 million a year earlier.
Another 48.519 million pounds was beef cuts, down 873,000, or 1.77%, from 49.392 million last month but up 13.631 million, or 39.1%, from 34.888 million last year.
PORK STOCKS RISE
Frozen pork supplies, at 530.244 million pounds, were up 44.315 million, or 9.12%, from 485.929 million the previous month and up 73.323 million, or 16.0%, from 456.921 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 58.702 million pounds, were up 1.923 million, or 3.39%, from 56.779 million last month and up 23.498 million, or 66.7%, from 35.204 million last year.
Hams in cold storage totaled 98.182 million pounds, up 24.077 million, or 32.5%, from 74.105 million a month earlier and up 17.793 million, or 22.1%, from 80.389 million a year earlier.
Total loins on ice were 42.383 million pounds, up 2.911 million, or 7.37%, from 39.472 million on March 31 but down 2.486 million, or 5.54%, from 44.869 million on April 30, 2021.
Frozen pork rib supplies, at 116.955 million pounds, were up 187,000, or 0.16%, from 116.768 million a month earlier and up 14.894 million, or 14.6%, from 102.061 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN STOCKS MIXED
Total stocks of chicken, at 770.320 million pounds, were down 8.243 million, or 1.06%, from 778.563 million the previous month but up 47.188 million, or 6.53%, from 723.132 million last year.
Of that, whole broilers, fryers and roasters totaled 12.473 million pounds, down 708,000, or 5.37%, from 13.181 million a month earlier and down 2.267 million, or 15.4%, from 14.740 million a year earlier.
Another 178.796 million pounds were breasts and breast meat, up 11.549 million, or 6.91%, from 167.247 million a month earlier but down 20.395 million, or 10.2%, from 199.191 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers, at 331.839 million, were up about 8% from 308.087 million last month but down about 8% from 362.510 million on April 30, 2021.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $139.00 to $141.68 per cwt, compared with last week’s range of $140.00 to $144.52. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $219.20 to $219.88 per cwt, versus $219.21 to $225.67.
The USDA choice cutout Tuesday was down $0.63 per cwt at $263.65, while select was up $1.12 at $245.35. The choice/select spread narrowed to $18.30 from $20.05 with 124 loads of fabricated product and 41 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA reported that basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.55 to $1.65 a bushel over the Jul futures and for southwest Kansas were steady at even the Jul, which settled at $7.71 3/4 a bushel, down $0.14 1/2.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Monday was $153.17 per cwt up $0.45. This compares with Tuesday’s May contract settlement of $154.50, up $1.05.