Total red meat supplies in freezers March 31 were down about 1% from the previous month and down about 12% from last year, the USDA said in Wednesday’s monthly Cold Storage report.
Total frozen poultry supplies on March 31 were up slightly from February but were down about 6% from a year ago.
BEEF STOCKS DOWN
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 432.222 million pounds, were down 15.134 million, or 3.38%, from 447.356 million the previous month and down 45.584 million, or 9.54%, from 477.806 million last year.
Of that, 395.717 million pounds were classed as “boneless” beef, down 11.676 million, or 2.87%, from 407.393 million a month earlier and down 36.861 million, or 8.52%, from 432.578 million a year earlier.
Another 36.505 million pounds were “beef cuts,” down 3.458 million, or 8.53%, from 39.963 million in February and down 8.723 million, or 19.29%, from 45.228 million in March of 2023.
PORK STOCKS MIXED
Frozen pork supplies of 464.205 million pounds were up 6,543 million, or 1.43%, from 457.662 million the previous month but down 69.688 million, or 13.1%, from 533.893 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies were 75.131 million up 11.386 million, or 17.7%, from 63.745 million, last month but down 1.855 million, or 2.41%, from 76.986 million last year.
Another 69.151 million pounds of pork were hams, down 322,000, or 0.46%, from 69.473 million a month earlier and down 15.403 million, or 18.2%, from 84.554 million a year earlier.
The volume of pork loins on ice totaled 40.037 million pounds, down 1.979 million, or 4.71%, from 42.016 million a month earlier and down 3.291 million, or 7.60%, from 43.328 million a year earlier.
Pork ribs in cold storage totaled 91.219 million pounds, up 2.846 million, or 3.22%, from 88.373 million in February but down 20.657 million, or 18.5%, from 111.876 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN STOCKS DOWN
Total stocks of chicken, at 763.713 million pounds, were down 23.186 million, or 2.95%, from 786.899 million the previous month and down 89.628 million, or 10.5%, from 853.341 million last year.
Chicken breasts and breast meat in freezers totaled 221.301 million pounds, down 12.357 million, or 5.29%, from 233.658 million a month earlier and down 11.737 million, or 5.04%, from 233.038 million a year earlier.
Leg quarters totaled 61.552 million pounds, up 1.006 million, or 1.66%, from 60.546 million a month ago but down 12.558 million, or 16.9%, from 74.110 million a year ago.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers were up 7% from last month and up 5% from March 31, 2023.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $181.32 per cwt to $187.00, compared with last week’s range of $182.00 to $185.81 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $285.91 per cwt to $290.32, compared with $287.22 to $292.58.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was down $1.66 per cwt at $295.74 while select was down $2.34 at $290.42. The choice/select spread widened to $5.32 from $4.64 with 123 loads of fabricated product and 25 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The weighted average USDA listed wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef was $347.25 per cwt, and 50% beef was $84.54.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.43 to $1.53 a bushel over the May corn contract, which settled at $4.47 3/4 a bushel, down $0.05 1/4.
No live cattle contracts were tendered for delivery Wednesday.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $242.64 per cwt, down $0.58. This compares with Wednesday’s Apr contract settlement of $243.10, down $0.65 and May’s $244.10, down $1.95.