Total US red meat supplies in cold storage on Aug. 31 were up 4% from a month earlier and up 4% from last year, said the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in its monthly Cold Storage report released Monday.
Total pounds of beef in US freezers were up 4% from a month earlier and up 6% from last year.
Frozen pork supplies were up 6% from July 31 and up 1% from last year, while stocks of pork bellies, from which bacon is made, were down 14% from a month earlier but up 82% from a year earlier.
Total frozen poultry supplies on Aug. 31 were up 5% from the previous month and up 11% from a year earlier. Total stocks of chicken were up 6% from the previous month and up 19% from last year.
Total turkey supplies in freezers were up 3% from July and up 1% from Aug. 31, 2017.
BEEF
Total pounds of beef in cold storage on Aug. 31 were reported at 503.449 million pounds, up 19.324 million, or 3.99%, from 484.125 million pounds a month earlier and up 26.882 million, or 5.64%, from 476.567 million a year earlier, the report said.
Total pounds of beef in cold storage have tended to grow in relation to last year and the 2012-2016 average through the year. They now seem poised to remain above last year’s fall hump.
Total pounds of beef cuts on ice were reported at 44.888 million pounds, up 4.723 million, or 11.8%, from 40.165 million a month earlier and up 6.415 million, or 16.7%, from 38.473 million, the NASS said.
Boneless beef tonnage in cold storage at the end of August totaled 458.561 million tons, up 14.601 million, or 3.29%, from 443.960 million at the end of July and up 20.467 million, or 4.67%, from the 438.094 million recorded on July 31, 2017.
PORK
Total pounds of pork in cold storage Aug. 31 came to 582.592 million, up 32.044 million, or 5.99%, from 549.648 million a month earlier and up 6.894 million, or 1.20%, from 575.698 million a year earlier.
Pork bellies in cold storage totaled 34.969 million tons, down 5.685 million, or 14.0%, from 40.654 million a month earlier but up 15.756 million, or 82.0%, from 19.213 million a year earlier.
The total volume of hams in freezers was 204.776 million, up 38.386 million, or 23.1%, from 166.390 million a month earlier and up 889,000, or 0.44%, from 203.887 million a year earlier.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
No fed cattle sold last Wednesday on the Livestock Exchange Video Auction, compared with 280 that traded four weeks previous at $109.50 per cwt.
Light cash trading was reported Tuesday at $110.50 per cwt live and at $174 dressed, compared with last week’s full range of $110.50 live and $170 to $175 dressed.
The USDA choice cutout Tuesday was down $0.43 per cwt at $205.73, while select was off $0.52 at $194.87. The choice/select spread widened to $10.86 from $10.77 with 98 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Monday, was $157.83 per cwt, up $0.49. This compares with Tuesday’s Sep settlement of $156.62, up $0.17, and the Oct settlement of $156.47, up $0.17.