Click the link to see the graphic. 2020-05-26 Pork and Beef Market Summary data

Pork:

  • Flat harvest numbers week over week at about 1.9M head, 242K below projected availability.
  • Net cumulative harvest deficit is projected at  3M head for the US and 360K head for Illinois
  • Carcass weights fell for the second week in a row across all purchase types suggesting inventory is more current than 3 weeks ago. Weights are still up 2-3 lbs from Q1 values
  • Packer margins are still strong but continue to compress with Cutout values falling for the second week. About 25% of carcass prices are based on cutout value limiting swings in packer margins.

Beef:

  • Cattle harvest numbers increased for the third week in a row with daily increases of 5-10K head per day. Total kill was up 50K head for the week.
  • The last 2 weeks have seen increases in negotiated grid cattle from a low of about 3% to currently 20% of all sales. At the same time we have seen a reduction in formula priced cattle.
  • Harvest for the quarter has averaged 341K head, which is 130K less than last year and 100K less than the first quarter, suggesting that total harvest deficit between 800K and 1.04M head.
  • Some progress is being made but we are still falling further behind each week, suggesting long term pressure on fed cattle prices, regardless of retail demand or cutout values.