Total red meat supplies in US freezers on Aug. 31 were up about 4% from the previous month but down about 6% from last year, according to the monthly Cold Storage report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Wednesday.
Total frozen poultry supplies were down about 3% from the previous month and down about 20% from a year ago. Total stocks of chicken were down about 3% from the previous month and down about 20% from last year.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers were down about 2% from last month and down about 20% from a year ago.
BEEF SUPPLIES MIXED
Total pounds of beef in freezers Aug. 31 were 414.935 million pounds, up 14.121 million, or 3.52%, from 400.814 million the previous month but down 34.401 million, or 7.66%, from 449.336 million last year.
Of that, 384.191 million pounds were designated “boneless” beef, up 13.006 million, or 3.50%, from 371.185 million a month earlier but down 33.704, or 7.14%, from 417,895 million a year earlier.
Also included in the total were 30.744 million pounds of beef cuts, up 1.115 million, or 3.76%, from 29.629 million a month earlier but down 697,000, or 2.22%, from 31.441 million a year earlier.
PORK SUPPLIES ALSO MIXED
Frozen pork supplies, at 460.059 million pounds, were up 17.669 million, or 3.99%, from 442.390 million the previous month but down 4.860 million, or 1.05%, from 464.919 million last year.
At 17.469 million pounds, stocks of pork bellies were down 10.253 million, or 37.0%, from 27.722 million last month and down 13.584 million, or 43.7%, from 31.053 million last year.
Hams in freezers totaled 185.697 million pounds, up 33.084 million, or 21.7%, from 152.613 million last month and up 41.788 million, or 29.0%, from 143.909 million last year.
Pork loins in cold storage amounted to 56.544 million pounds, down 4.705 million, or 7.68%, from 61.249 million a month earlier and down 6.111 million, or 9.75%, from 62.655 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN STOCKS DECLINE
Chicken supplies in US freezers Aug. 31 totaled 708,022 million head, down 22.883 million, or 3.13%, from 730,905 million a month earlier and down 175.516 million, or 19.9%, from 883.538 million a year earlier.
Whole chickens in storage totaled 13.722 million pounds, up 1.725 million, or 14.4%, from 11.997 million in July but down 15.319 million, or 52.7%, from 29.041 million on Aug. 31, 2020.
Chicken breasts and breast meat on ice totaled 162.042 million pounds, down 16.504 million, or 9.24%, from 178.546 million a month ago but down 41.857 million, or 20.5%, from 203.899 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 $124.22 to $126.80 per cwt, compared with last week’s range of $122.43 to $127.40. FOB dressed steers and heifers went for $195.05 to $198.29 per cwt, versus $192.44 to $203.38.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was down $3.54 per cwt at $307.83, while select was off $2.51 at $275.50. The choice/select spread narrowed to $32.33 from $33.36 with 155 loads of fabricated product and 31 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA reported Wednesday that basis bids for corn from livestock feeding operations in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.85 to $2.05 a bushel over the Dec futures and for southwest Kansas were unchanged at $0.40 over Dec, which settled at $5.25 1/2 a bushel, up $0.08 1/2.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $153.57 per cwt down $0.20. This compares with Wednesday’s Sep contract settlement of $154.8 per cwt, down $0.05.