Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 4/26/17


Demand for red meat appears strong as USDA's Cold Storage report showed record reductions in frozen inventories of beef and pork, while chicken stocks remain historically high.

Total beef in cold storage dropped by 38 million pounds in March, which marks the largest such decline in that month since the 1970s. Also setting a record for March was the 40-million-pound decline in frozen boneless beef. Total frozen beef stocks fell 4 percent compared to March of 2016, with boneless beef down 5 percent year on year.

Pork made some history as well. Bone-in ham stocks declined by 21 million pounds, the largest draw in at least 20 years. Overall frozen pork supplies were down 10 percent from March last year. Stocks of pork bellies were up 27 percent from last month but still down 68 percent from last year.

Chicken stocks decreased, too, by 3 percent from last year, but Daily Livestock Report analyst Len Steiner notes that they’re “still high relative to historical norms, which will be a factor limiting industry production expansion prospects.”

Total frozen poultry supplies were up 2 percent from a year ago, accounting also for turkey, up 16 percent from March 2016.

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