May 18

5/18 - Rolling meat plant closures and re-openings look like they may be around for a while. Lack of processing capacity has backed-up live cattle, hogs, and chickens. Economically, euthanasia is the only choice for cash-strapped producers. In last week’s WASDE report, the USDA slashed 2020 beef production by 6.1% to 25.8B lbs – 5.1% below 2019 levels. 2020 pork output was cut from 29.05 to 27.45B pounds, slightly below 2019 levels. Broiler output for this year was again reduced, this time from 44.7B to 43.3B pounds, slightly below 2019. With tighter supplies, beef and pork prices are sky-high ahead of the big-3 grilling holidays: Memorial Day (5/25) Father’s Day (6/21) and July 4th. XT top rounds at $6.02/lb are triple year-ago levels. Beef 50s trimmings, which had dipped to $.24/lb in early April, soared to $2.92 last week before dropping back to $1.98 on Friday.