Total red meat supplies in freezers on Dec. 31 were up about 4% from the previous month but down about 9% from last year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said in its monthly Cold Storage report Wednesday.
Total frozen poultry supplies were up about 4% from the previous month and up slightly from a year ago, the Cold Storage report said. Total stocks of chicken were down slightly from the previous month and down about 6% from last year.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers were up about 20% from last month and up about 29% from Dec. 31, 2022, the USDA said.
BEEF SUPPLIES MIXED
Total pounds of beef in freezers were 485.127 million, up 27.716 million, or 6.06%, from 457.411 million the previous month but down 58.828 million, or 10.8%, from 543.955 million last year.
Of that, 411.586 million pounds were classed as “boneless” beef, up 5.536 million, or 1.33%, from 417.122 million a month earlier but down 86.669 million, or 17.4%, from 498.255 million a year earlier.
Another 43.541 million pounds were “beef cut,” up 3.252 million, or 8.07%, from 40.289 million at the end of November but down 2.189 million, or 4.79%, from 45.730 million on Dec. 31, 2022.
PORK SUPPLIES ALSO MIXED
Total frozen pork supplies of 427.300 million pounds were up 10.638 million, or 2.55%, from 416.662 million the previous month but down 29.079 million, or 6.37%, from 456.379 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 56.017 million pounds, were up 7.694 million pounds, or 15.9%, from 48.323 million last month but down 6.998 million, or 11.1%, from 63.015 million last year.
Hams in cold storage totaled 55.003 million pounds, down 2.287 million, or 3.99%, from 57.290 million a month earlier but up 1.589 million, or 2.97%, from 53.414 million a year earlier.
Pork loins freezers totaled 42.401 million pounds, up 1.892 million, or 4.67%, from 40.509 million a month earlier and up 6.076 million, or 16.7%, from 36.325 million a year earlier.
Frozen ribs totaled 80.508 million pounds, up 4.402 million, or 5.78%, from 76.106 million on Nov. 30 but down 31.987 million, or 28.4%, from 112.495 million on Dec. 31, 2022.
CHICKEN STOCKS MIXED
Chicken stocks in cold storage on Dec. 31 amounted to 880.091 million pounds, down 429,000, or 0.05%, from 880.520 million a month earlier and down 51.753 million, or 5.55%, from 931.844 million a year earlier.
Whole birds on ice totaled 12.842 million pounds, up 670,000, or 5.50%, from 12.172 million in November but down 1.115 million, or 7.99%, from 13.957 million in December 2022.
Chicken breasts and breast meat totaled 243.614 million pounds, up 4.226 million, or 1.77%, from 239.388 million a month earlier but down 6.645 million, or 2.66%, from 250.259 million a year earlier.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $173.40 per cwt to $176.16, compared with last week’s range of $172.05 to $175.34 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $270.35 per cwt to $273.39, compared with $270.93 to $277.08.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was down $2.16 per cwt at $299.50 while select was off $1.14 at $287.24. The choice/select spread narrowed to $12.26 from $13.28 with 104 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 $1.33 to $1.44 a bushel over the Mar corn contract, which settled at $4.52 1/4 a bushel, up $0.05 3/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $230.21 per cwt, up $1.74. This compares with Wednesday’s Jan contract settlement of $231.82, up $0.82.