U.S. red meat stocks on August 1st were sharply lower than last year.
The USDA says the red meat total of 922496 million pounds was 14% under a year ago due to a combination of slower slaughter rates caused by tighter ready numbers and solid demand. Beef stocks were 18% below the previous year’s monthly record at 420.101 million pounds, while pork stocks dropped 10% to 473.831 million pounds.
Poultry in cold storage was 4% higher at 1.289 billion pounds, including a 4% rise in chicken to 847.635 million pounds and 3% increase for turkey at 439.49 million pounds.
