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Cattle on Feed report disappearances were the highest reported since Oct. 2014. This could signal heifers being retained for breeding, replenishment purposes, or mortality spike due to January winter storms.
All chicken markets are higher across the board, with some market segments like breasts and wings big increases.
We are seeing the same pattern that we have seen for the last month of increasing prices across most offerings. Breasts were up on all sizes with BIG price increases. Good demand continues to push wings of all sizes up BIG. Tenders are seeing continued increases. Whole birds were slightly lower. Dark is up again.
Butts are still on their upward path, as demand remains strong. Ribs are also still seeing strength. This is expected to fall of in the next week. Loins are moving with their typical seasonal trend and as retail demand is slow. Bellies are trending down for next week but could change as the market remains volatile. Hams are moving up as expected with strong exports and increased demand.
Chucks remain steady. Rounds are showing strength and buyers seem to be participating at a quicker pace. Ribs and tenders, especially light ribs, and Sel/No Roll grade, have mustered slight strength. Strips continue to gain strength and remain limited. Grinds are mixed from packer to packer for the near term.
Shell egg markets are all down and Northwest/ California are down. Block is decreasing. Barrel is increasing. Butter is up.
The soybean oil market moved down near 3.5% last week with continued selling from the speculative traders. Palm oil was flat with some increased exports and China stepping back in following the lunar new year celebrations. Canola was volatile, but ended mostly unchanged, also experiencing heavy speculative selling.
Market is realizing the lowest price point seen in a very long time with many growers shifting to a 28lb pack to help clear volume. All sizing is plentiful, quality is excellent.
East – Green supply is better, red and yellow is fairly tight and market remains high. Quality is fair.
West – Green supply is better, market reflects lower. Red and yellow peppers remain in demand exceeds supplies for another 7–10 days.
Market holding mostly steady with good supplies and moderate demand.
Rain has impacted harvesting and yields are down on all varieties, demand exceeds supplies. Weather is improving and should help to bring on volume, but it is still a couple of week away.
Supplies and quality good on both red and green. Market mostly steady on red, a bit up on green.
Market is coming off as most suppliers are meeting the current demand with better supplies.
Market mainly steady with good supplies and moderate demand.
Cilantro and Parsley supplies and overall quality look good. Market mainly steady for on Parsley and cilantro up a bit.
East – Supplies remain limited; quality is fair, demand exceeds supplies and the market very strong.
West – both white and bi color are now being harvested but volume is still low on both.
East – Supplies extremely limited. The market is very high, the quality is good and there are less imported each week.
Domestic product out of Florida will start mid–March.
West – supplies are improving but not enough to fill the pipeline.
Market is firm on lettuce and stronger on romaine with lighter supplies due to the recent rain and hail events, which is impacting yields at the field level. Expect markets to remain elevated for a couple of weeks.
No quality inventory is available from Idaho. Washington white onion supplies continue to decrease. Mexico has yet to cross into the US certified onions. We expect inventory crossing from Mexico to improve each week.
Supplies are good for all sizes and demand remains slow but steady. The market remains unchanged. Quality is good.
East – Zucchini is plentiful and the markets have come off. Yellow is still fairly tight and holding at higher prices. Quality has been ok.
West – Volume increased on zucchini, market lower, quality is good. Yellow squash remains short supply and higher pricing.
Round, grape, and cherry varieties remain on alert status due to limited availability (especially rounds). Roma markets remain steady due to readily available volume both east and west.
Prices have come off slightly due to oversupply and limited demand post Superbowl. This will be a temporary downturn and all indicators show that the market will stabilize and trend higher by mid-March.
Lemons –Alert Smaller sizes are getting scarce. The amount of rain received in February and going into March will continue to make the lemons larger for the rest of the season and demand will exceed supplies.
Oranges –Alert Persistent shortages in medium and small sizes are anticipated with rain forecast to delay harvest and affect distribution. Small fruit both fancy and choice grade are extremely limited for the remainder of the domestic navel crop.
Limes – New production harvests are finally underway, which will yield smaller–sized fruit. Large fruit will be limited in supply. Expect decreased supply trends to remain consistent for the foreseeable future
Strawberry supplies in California and Florida have been interrupted by rain every week. Recently rain has been lighter, plants are stronger, and the weather is warming so the effects are now minimized. Central Mexico production is on the decline.
Red grapes supplies increased slightly this week but not enough to squelch demand. Market remains high and is expected to hold. Green grapes availability is better than reds but still limited.
