Beef
Industry opinion regarding the screwworm identified to be impacting Mexican cattle is now expected to be resolved by January. Future cattle prices had been reacting to this news pricing cattle higher.
December 6, 2024
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Market Headlines
Poultry
The market has stabilized with nearly all offerings in balance. Breast meat has evened out on all sizes. Tenders of all sizes have some availability. Wings are seeing extra availability but they are beginning to tighten. Dark meat demand continues to be strong. Whole birds are mostly balanced.
Pork
Butts both Bone–in and boneless are steady. Loins are steady with adequate supply. Ribs see adequate supply now and their unseasonal peak has maxed out with no expectation for markets to continue to rise. Bellies are expected to continue to decline as availability on the spot market is high. Trim is now most steady, as market declines per this time of year.
Beef
Even w/ a lighter harvest, larger carcass weights kept pounds higher than 2023 on Thanksgiving week. Buyer focus on Ribs and Psmos continue to bolster the beef market. Strip and top butts are well balanced. The chuck and round complex are playing second fiddle to middles for now. Grind availability has packers scrambling to clean–up inventories.
Dairy
Shell egg markets are down this week and California eggs are up. HPAI running rampant along the West Coast to the tune of 10+ million birds in the last 45 days. The Block & Barrel are down and the market is soft. Butter is down.
Grains / Oil
Futures declined last week as palm oil began to move lower. The speculative funds, then, sold off many contracts adding to the falling soybean market. Canola is moving with soy, to a degree, but with the possible 25% tariff being put on Canada, basis has begun to firm and suppliers are selling spot only if you were not covered.
To learn more contact your local Sales Consultant. Market Corner Produce information reflects both U.S. and Canadian markets. All other commodity information is based on U.S. market data only.
Produce Market Updates
Vegetables
Asparagus
Mexican supply is light with larger sizing extremely limited. Peru volume has declined as well. Markets are higher on both coasts as volume is just meeting demand. Quality should show improvement as warmer weather moves into the growing areas.
Bell Peppers
East – Green supply remains tight, most growers in Georgia are finished and cooler temps in the southeast are keeping markets high. Red and yellow bells extremely limited supply.
West – Desert winding down with Nogales slow to start. Limited supplies of all peppers.
Broccoli
Market is still elevated but is softer, as supplies remain slow to come on. Expect volume to improve the next 10–14 days if weather holds. Quality is good to very good.
Cauliflower
Market is firm as supplies are lighter to start the week but expected to begin to ease as supplies in Yuma start to improve.
Celery
Market is a bit lower as adequate product is meeting the current demand and additional regions are starting to pack.
Cilantro/ Parsley
Market is steady on both Cilantro and parsleys with moderate to good demand. Some occasionally yellowing noted for both, but overall quality is good.
Corn
East – Supplies are extremely tight due to cooler weather and limited production in Florida.
West – Transition in full affect with extremely limited supplies, next week should see improvement.
Quality is fair. Demand is moderate.
Green Beans
East – Crops has shifted to Florida, growers still have supply gaps from previous storms and cooler temps also slowing down production
West – Supply is improving, with better numbers expected early next week. Market is steady, demand good.
Lettuce Iceberg
Supplies are improving and weights are better but still slightly lower than normal. The market is starting to come down.
Lettuce Romaine
Market starting to come off on good demand and moderate to good supplies in Yuma. Heart market is dropping but a bit slower that romaine.
Onions
Supplies are good on new crop yellows and reds from Washington and Idaho. Whites are lighter in supply this season. Demand is good on all colors. Quality has been good, with good sizing. Prices are steady on Yellows reds and whites.
Potatoes – Russets
Supplies are good on the new crop. The sizing is heavy to large with most growers being lighter on small sizes. Quality is good. Prices are steady.
Squash
East – Squash markets are high. Low yields due to the storms and rainfall a few weeks ago and now South Florida is experiencing cold temps, so squash is very limited.
West – Limited supplies with production expected to increase into late next week. Warm weather will help.
Tomatoes
Market remains on alert due to significantly reduced availability both east and west from recent weather conditions in Florida combined with reduced availability of CA & MX. Market is not expected to improve until mid-January. Quality varies amongst growers.
Fruit
Avocado
Prices may have peaked. Industry seeing lower prices on 48’s today and the pack outs from the field are bringing in more #2 fruit for foodservice. Demand for the Northern
U.S. is down as winter weather has arrived.
Citrus
Lemons – Demand is steady, quality is excellent, and the peak sizes are 140s/115s/165s followed by 200s. Pricing for smaller sizes is strengthening due to the shift in sizing.
Oranges – Demand is steady. Pack outs are heavier to fancy grade, and the peak sizes are 113s,138s and 88s.The fruit quality is excellent. Pricing for the smaller sizes is stabilizing while the pricing for 88s and larger are holding due to lighter supplies.
Limes – Large–sized fruit is peaking, including 150’s and 175’s; 110’s are becoming more abundant in supply. Overall fruit health has much improved. Small–sized fruit has slightly increased in price and will be scarce throughout the remainder of Q4.
Grapes
Domestic red grapes still available and needed as imports are slow to start up on reds. Greens are all but done on Domestic, Imports look great, but both red and green have gone up considerably in price and look to stay high for December.
Strawberries
Supplies are currently on the lighter side due to rain last week, shorter days and cooler weather as well as a slow start in Mexico and Florida. Volume will increase over the next two weeks. Quality and size are good in all areas. Prices are slightly lower.
