USDA released its monthly meat price spreads today, which show the producer, packer and retailer share of the retail value of beef and pork. As expected, based on past and the current CPI reports, retail values of red meat during Q3 were down from earlier in the year, though beef saw a holiday spike in December. For the month, beef retail prices were flat, but down 3.1 percent on the year. Pork prices were down 1.9 percent for the month and up 1.5 percent for the year. Meanwhile, cattle producers are seeing a growing share of the retail value of beef, while hog producers have been seeing a declining share of the retail value of pork.
Obviously, for beef, with retail values declining and cattle prices increasing, the packers’ margin...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...
