Total red meat supplies in freezers on Aug. 31 were up about 1% from the previous month but down about 15% from last year, according to the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report Monday.
Total pounds of beef in freezers were up about 3% from the previous month but down about 18% from last year, the report said.
Frozen pork supplies were up slightly from the previous month but down about 13% from last year, the USDA said. Stocks of pork bellies were down about 28% from last month but up about 3% from last year.
Total frozen poultry supplies on Aug. 31 were down slightly from the previous month but up about 1% from a year ago, the report said. Total stocks of chicken were down about 1% from the previous month but up slightly from last year.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers were up about 2% from last month and up about 2% from a year ago.
BEEF SUPPLIES MIXED
Total stocks of frozen beef were 421.627 million pounds, up 11.169 million, or 2.72%, from 410.459 million last month but down 92.161 million, or 17.9%, from 513.788 million last year.
Of that, 383.206 million pounds was classed as “boneless” beef, up 12.191 million, or 3.29%, from 371.015 million a month earlier but down 79.192 million, or 17.1%, from 462.398 million a year ago.
Another 38.421 million pounds was classed as “beef cuts,” down 1.023 million, or 2.59%, from 39.444 million last month and down 12.879 million, or 25.1%, from 51.300 million last year.
PORK SUPPLIES MIXED
Pork supplies in cold storage totaled 471.091 million pounds, up 327,000, or 0.07%, from 470.764 million a month earlier but down 71.511 million, or 13.2%, from 542.602 million a year earlier.
Pork bellies on ice Aug. 31 totaled 36.872 million pounds, down 14.297 million, or 27.9%, from 51.169 million a month ago but up 1.188 million, or 3.33%, from 35.684 million a year ago.
Total frozen ham stocks were 153.959 million pounds, up 16.313 million, or 11.9%, from 137.646 million a month ago but down 10.033 million, or 6.12%, from 163.992 million a year ago.
Pork loins in cold storage amounted to 34.090 million pounds, up from 34.065 million a month earlier and up from 33.651 million a year earlier.
Pork ribs on ice totaled 56.825 million pounds, down 8.067 million, or 12.4%, from 64.892 million last month and down 51.282 million, or 47.4%, from 108.107 million last year.
CHICKEN STOCKS MIXED
Total frozen chicken stocks were 834.891 million pounds, down 10.675 million, or 1.26%, from 845.566 million a month ago but up 2.477 million, or 0.30%, from 832.414 million a year ago.
Whole chickens totaled 16.206 million pounds, versus 15.656 million a month ago and 15.813 million a year ago.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $183.71 per cwt to $183.97, compared with last week’s range of $181.64 to $186.65 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $288.93 per cwt to $289.97, compared with $283.68 to $291.26.
The USDA choice cutout Monday was down $1.85 per cwt at $301.48 while select was up $0.02 at $280.45. The choice/select spread narrowed to $21.08 from $22.90 with 81 loads of fabricated product and 14 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were down $0.12 to $0.14 at $1.48 to $1.61 a bushel over the Dec corn contract, which settled at $4.81 1/4 a bushel, up $0.04.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Friday was $254.06 per cwt, up $0.83. This compares with Monday’s Sep contract settlement of $253.87 per cwt, down $0.22 and Oct’s $258.82, down $0.32.