Total red meat supplies in US freezers on May 31 were down about 4% from the previous month and down about 3% from last year, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s monthly Cold Storage report Tuesday.
Total frozen poultry supplies were up about 3% from April 30 but down about 12% from a year ago.
BEEF STOCKS DOWN
Total pounds of beef in freezers were 414.047 million pounds, down 34.807 million, or 7.75%, from 448.854 million the previous month and down 3.309 million, or 0.79%, from 417.356 million last year.
Of that, 382.397 million pounds were classed as boneless beef. This was down 31.569, or 7.63%, from 413.966 million a month earlier and down 7.945 million, or 2.04%, from 390.342 million a year earlier.
Another 31.650 million pounds of the total was classed as beef cuts. This was down 3.238 million, or 9.28%, from 34.888 million a month earlier but up 4.636 million, or 17.2%, from 27.014 million a year earlier.
PORK STOCKS MIXED
Frozen pork supplies totaled 461.138 million pounds, up 4.217 million, or 0.92%, from 456.921 million the previous month but down 6.789 million, or 1.45%, from 467.927 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 36.208 million pounds, were up 1.004 million, or 2.85%, from 35.204 million last month but down 24.114 million, or 40.0%, from 60.322 million last year.
Supplies of hams on ice totaled 109.525 million pounds, up 29.136 million, or 36.2%, from 80.389 million in April and up 1.975 million, or 1.84%, from 107.550 million on May 31, 2020.
Total pork loin supplies were 38.352 million pounds, down 6.517 million, or 14.5%, from 44.869 million a month earlier but up 10.850 million, or 39.5%, from 27.502 million a year earlier.
POULTRY STOCKS MIXED
Total stocks of chicken were 730.327 million pounds, up 7.196 million, or 1.00%, from 723.131 million the previous month but down 127.909 million, or 14.9%, from 858.236 million last year.
Of that, 204.280 million pounds were breasts and breast meat, up 5.085 million, or 2.55%, from 199.195 million a month earlier but down 14.058 million, or 6.44%, from 218.338 million a year earlier.
Whole frozen chicken supplies stood at 14.311 million pounds, down 429,000, or 2.91%, from 14.740 million a month earlier and down 9.222 million, or 39.2%, from 23.533 million pounds a year earlier.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers, at 393.351 million pounds, were up 30.840 million, or 8.51%, from 362.510 million last month but down 26.940 million, or 6.41%, from 420.129 million on May 31, 2020.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Fed cattle traded last week at $120 to $124 per cwt on a live basis, up $1 from the previous week. Dressed-basis trading last week was at $190 to $195, up $1 to $2.
The USDA choice cutout Tuesday was down $5.45 per cwt at $315.75, while select was off $1.71 at $279.75. The choice/select spread narrowed to $38.00 from $39.74 with 91 loads of fabricated product and 14 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA reported Monday that basis bids for corn from livestock feeding operations in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.00 to $1.07 a bushel over the Jul futures and for southwest Kansas were unchanged at $0.70 over Jul, which settled at $6.59 3/4 a bushel, up $0.00 1/2.
No live cattle delivery notices were tendered Tuesday against the Jun contract.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Monday was $145.24 per cwt up $0.66. This compares with Tuesday’s Aug contract settlement of $158.35 per cwt, up $3.25.