Total red meat supplies in US freezers on Feb. 28 were down about 1% from the previous month and down about 5% from last year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Board said in its monthly Cold Storage report Tuesday.
Total frozen poultry supplies on Feb. 28 were up about 2% from the previous month but down about 3% from a year ago.
FROZEN BEEF STOCKS DOWN
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 428.131 million pounds, were down 26.961 million pounds, or 5.92%, from 455.092 million the previous month and down 9.937 million, or 2.27%, from 438.068 million last year.
Of that, 390.421 million pounds were classed as “boneless” beef, down 26.737 million, or 6.41%, from 417.158 million the previous month and down 7.684 million, or 1.93%, from 398.105 million last year.
Another 37.710 million pounds were classed as “beef cuts,” down 224,000 pounds, or 0.59%, from 37.934 million a month earlier and down 2.253 million, or 5.64%, from 39.963 million a year earlier.
FROZEN PORK STOCKS MIXED
Total pounds of pork on ice at the end of February were 423.137 million pounds, up 15.886 million, or 3.90%, from 407.251 million a month earlier but down 35.525 million, or 7.75%, from 458.662 million a year earlier.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 48.588 million pounds, were up 6.888 million, or 16.5%, from 41.700 million last month but were down 15.157 million, or 23.8%, from 63.745 million last year.
Frozen hams totaled 83.605 million pounds, up 4.212 million, or 5.31%, from 79.393 million in January and up 13.132 million, or 18.6%, from 70.473 million in 2024.
Pork loins on ice totaled 34.112 million pounds, up from 33.856 million a month earlier but down from 42.016 million a year earlier.
Frozen pork ribs totaled 87.898 million pounds, up 3.945 million, or 4.70%, from 83.953 million a month earlier but down 475,000, or 0.54%, from 88.373 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN STOCKS MIXED
Total stocks of chicken, at 793.332 million pounds, were down 10.634 million, or 1.32%, from 803.966 million the previous month but up 6.433 million, or 0.82%, from 786.899 million last year.
Of that, 254.550 million pounds sere chicken breasts and breast meat, up 5.829 million, or 2.34%, from 248.721 million a month earlier and up 20.892 million, or 8.94%, from 233.658 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers, at 292.505 million pounds, were up 32.509 million, or 12.5%, from 259.996 million last month but down 37.349 million, or 11.3%, from 329.854 million, on Feb. 29, 2024.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $202.49 per cwt to $213.42, compared with last week’s range of $199.50 to $210.11 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $319.17 per cwt to $327.45, compared with $311.12 to $323.01.
The USDA choice cutout Tuesday was up $8.09 per cwt at $335.19 while select was up $0.47 at $314.05. The choice/select spread widened to $21.14 from $13.52 with 93 loads of fabricated product and 34 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef was $383.65 per cwt, and 50% beef was $119.98.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.20 to $1.32 a bushel over the May corn contract, which settled at $4.57 3/4, down $0.06 3/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Monday was $287.25 per cwt, up $0.26. This compares with Tuesday’s Mar contract settlement of $286.97, up $0.37 and Apr’s $284.85, down $0.40.