News

Trade disputes lead to more meat in cold storage

Trade disputes and heavy supplies are resulting in more meat piling up in U.S. cold-storage warehouses.

A five percent uptick in beef and pork supplies, plus six percent more poultry reported this week by the USDA are contributing to the total.

An article on Morningstar says U.S. consumers’ appetite for meat is growing, but not fast enough to keep up with record hog and chicken production.  Retaliatory tariffs from Mexico and China have raised prices of U.S. hams, chops and livers for consumers in those countries, slowing sales.

Growing meat stockpiles may bring down prices for U.S. consumers, putting pressure on producer profits.

The article says the Illinois-based Maschhoffs hog farms have put a hold on $30 million in investments to expand its breeding operation and upgrade truck washes and other biosecurity measures.