News

Red meat, poultry in cold storage up sharply

Beef in cold storage ended August at record large levels.

The USDA says beef stocks were 515.676 million pounds, a jump of 24% on the year, following a record month for commercial beef production. Most of that was boneless beef, also record large for the month at 463.78 million pounds. Pork came out at 532.039 million pounds, 17% above a year ago, with commercial pork production also above a year ago. The pork total included a monthly record for ribs. Red meat totaled 1.08 billion pounds, an increase of 20% from August 2021.

Chicken stocks were reported at 831.494 million pounds, up 17%, and turkey was pegged at 431.669 million pounds, 1% higher, with total poultry at 1.265 billion pounds, a gain of 11% from last year.

The amount of meat in cold storage is subject to several factors, including retail featuring, but is largely impacted by production and demand.