Total red meat supplies in US freezers at the end of July were down slightly from June and down about 14% from last year, according to the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report Wednesday.
Total frozen poultry supplies on July 31 were down about 1% from the previous month but up about 4% from a year ago.
BEEF STOCKS MIXED
Total beef supplies in freezers were 420.101 million pounds, up 9.365 million, or 2.28%, from 410.736 million the previous month but down 91.744 million, or 17.9%, from 511.845 million last year.
Of that, 380.628 million pounds were classed as “boneless” beef, up 6.081 million, or 1.62%, from 374.547 million a month earlier but down 77.217 million, or 16.9%, from 457.845 million a year ago.
Another 39.473 million pounds was classed as “beef cuts,” up 3.284 million, or 9.07%, from 36.189 million a month earlier but down 14.527 million, or 26.9%, from 54.000 million a year earlier.
PORK STOCKS DECLINE
Frozen pork supplies totaling 473.831 million pounds were down 12.980 million, or 2.67%, from 486.811 million the previous month and down 52.665 million, or 10.0%, from 526.496 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 51.774 million pounds. were down 18.180 million, or 26.0%, from 69.954 million last month but up 8.932 million, or 20.8%, from 42.842 million last year.
Frozen ham stocks totaled 143.921 million pounds, up 7.085 million, or 5.18%, from 136.836 million a month earlier but down 44.061 million, or 29.1%, from 151.634 million a year earlier.
Pork loins on ice totaled 34.264 million pounds, down 396,000 pounds, or 1.14%, from 34.660 million in June but up 880,000, or 2.66%, from 33.376 million in July 2022.
Pork ribs in cold storage totaled 63.350 million pounds, up 751,000, or 1.20%, from 62.599 million a month ago but down 42.965 million, or 40.4%, from 106.315 million a year ago.
CHICKEN STOCKS MIXED
Total stocks of chicken, at 847.635 million pounds, were down 12.221 million, or 1.42%, from 859.856 million the previous month but up 33.203 million, or 4.08%, from 814.432 million last year.
Of that, 15.826 million pounds were whole birds, up 1.884 million, or 13.5%, from 13.942 million the previous month and up 2.791 million, or 21.4%, from 13.035 million the previous year.
Another 226.205 million pounds were breasts and breast meat, down 9.618 million, or 4.08%, from 235.823 million a month earlier but up 41.612 million, or 22.5%, from 184.593 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers, at 439.490 million pounds, were up 1.496 million pounds, or 0.34%, from 437.904 million last month and up 13.552 million, or 3.18%, from 425.848 million on July 31, 2022.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $179.55 per cwt to $189.46, compared with last week’s range of $180.00 to $191.12 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $285.06 per cwt to $293.58, compared with $283.74 to $293.54
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was unchanged at $317.05 per cwt while select was up $2.08 at $291.59. The choice/select spread narrowed to $25.46 from $27.54 with 98 loads of fabricated product and 12 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 $1.70 to $1.90 a bushel over the Sep corn contract, which settled at $4.76 1/4 a bushel, up $0.09 3/4.
No contracts were tendered for delivery against the Aug cattle contract Wednesday.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $244.75 per cwt, down $0.21. This compares with Wednesday’s Aug contract settlement of $245.02 per cwt, down $7.