Total red meat supplies in US freezers on Sep. 30 were up 1% from a month earlier but down 1% from last year, according to the USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service’s monthly Cold Storage report Monday.
Of that, total beef supplies on ice were up 1% from the previous month and up 3% from last year, NASS said. Frozen pork supplies were up 1% from a month earlier but down 5% from last year.
Total frozen poultry supplies on Sep. 30 were down slightly from Aug. 31 but were up 10% from a year ago, the report said. Of this, chicken stocks were up 4% from August and up 17% from last year, and turkey stocks were down 7% from a month earlier and down 1% from a year earlier.
BEEF STOCKS KEEP GROWING
Total pounds of beef in cold storage at the end of September were 508.560 million, up 7.236 million, or 1.44%, from 501.324 million at the end of August and up 12.545 million, or 2.53%, from 496.015 million on Sep. 30, 2017, NASS said.
Of that, the total amount of boneless beef on ice Sep. 30 was 460.379 million pounds, up 2.985 million, or 0.65%, from 457.394 million a month earlier and up 5.940 million, or 1.31%, from 454.439 million a year earlier.
Beef cuts in cold storage totaled 48.181 million pounds, up 4.251 million, or 9.68%, from 43.930 million a month earlier and up 6.605, or 15.9%, from 41.576 million a year earlier, the report said.
PORK STOCKS MIXED
While beef supplies in cold storage kept growing, pork supplies showed more mixed results.
Total pork supplies on ice Aug. 31 were 588.917 million pounds, up 7.406 million, or 1.27%, from 581.511 million a month earlier but down 29.646 million, or 4.79%, from 618.563 million a year earlier, NASS said.
Hams in cold storage at September’s end totaled 214.628 million pounds, up 9.859 million, or 4.81%, from 204.769 million a month earlier but down 17.406 million, or 7.50%, from 232.034 million a year earlier, the report said.
The total poundage of pork bellies, or raw bacon, in cold storage on Sep. 30 was 30.301 million, down 4.504 million, or 12.9%, from 34.805 million a month earlier but up 9.404 million, or 45.0%, from 20.897 million a year earlier, NASS said.
CHICKEN STOCKS UP
The total amount of chicken in cold storage on Sep. 30 was 959.418 million pounds, up 33.174 million, or 3.58%, from 926.244 million a month earlier and up 141.328 million, or 17.3%, from 818.090 million a year earlier, the report said.
Total turkey stocks were 566.620 million pounds, down 39.700 million, or 6.55%, from 606.320 million a month earlier and down 3.343 million, or 0.59%, from 569.963 million a year earlier, NASS said.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Cash cattle trading was reported last week in the Plains at $110.50 to $111 per cwt on a live basis, steady to up $0.50 from the previous week. On a dressed basis, activity was reported at $174 to $175, steady to $1 higher.
The USDA choice cutout Monday was up $1.35 per cwt at $209.28, while select was up $3.42 at $197.66. The choice/select spread narrowed to $11.62 from $13.69 with 69 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
There were four heifer delivery tenders and no steer delivery notices Friday at zero. There were no other retenders, demands or reclaims.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Friday, was $155.27 per cwt, down $0.09. This compares with Monday’s Oct settlement of $155.65, up $1.00.