The Summer of the Pork Belly

BEEF Beef production last week was 537K head, up from 526K the week prior. We are still in that zone of keeping supplies tight to keep pricing up. The animals that are processed have been in the feed lots longer, growing larger; current cattle are running almost 50 pounds heavier than this week last year. This trend will continue. We are at the big summer holiday. I do expect beef prices to settle once we get past Independence Day and a short production week. I do expect grinds to lead the beef complex this summer; demand will be strong and pricing will be supported by that demand. Another week and let's see if the middle meats will behave like they should in summer and move a bit lower. Thin meats, briskets, sirloin flap, skirts will be the wild card as it takes a lot of animals to fill one case; tight supplies just keep pressure on the pricing, but we could see some reset on thin meats if demand does not hold. All in all, stay ahead of your needs, but I wouldn’t go too far out as I do think we’ll see more favorable prices in the next few weeks. POULTRY Chicken production continues to outpace last year, but I do think we’ll see a bit of a slowdown in production, not a pullback, but we’ve been running about 2% ahead of last year and I’m seeing some pullback to about 1% over last year. Enough to get some push under the market to keep prices supported. Wings are seeing good support and moving higher next week. Boneless skinless randoms up again next week, while tenders are lower again. A few weeks ago, tenders were well over the cost of random breasts; next week that flips as tenders decline and random breasts increase. Still, plenty of chicken and favorable pricing. GRAINS Corn continues in its narrow trading ban closing at $4.31 up from last week $4.19. We are finally seeing breaks in soy oil pricing; lower prices should be arriving in the next couple weeks to break this recent run up. Wheat is a mixed bag but mostly lower. PORK The great summer of the pork belly continues, closing today at $119. Up $3 from last week but still great pricing for this time of year. Butts, ribs and loins are all down a bit again as pork is ready to replace beef demand, but consumers have made the choice for chicken. Still pork is there and an excellent protein value. DAIRY Barrel and block both took the holiday off both moving less than ½ cent for the week, while butter took to moving higher, up 13 for the week. Markets will be closed on Friday, July 3. Savalfoods.com | Find us on Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn