With beef packers challenged with remaining profitable, plant hours have been cut back to limit processing capacity.  

High beef prices will persist for the foreseeable future primarily due to strong consumer demand for protein and the cattle herd at its lowest levels in over 70 years. 

Heavier carcass weights will continue to help offset the reduced slaughter levels.  

With cattle being kept on feed longer, grading for choice, premium, and prime remains strong. Availability for lower grades such as Select continues to be limited, which is supporting higher prices.  

• Ribeye pricing post holidays will be decreasing significantly over the next few weeks as seasonal demand shifts. 
• Striploin pricing will be declining but more gradually than the ribeye. 
• Chuck flat pricing remains at elevated levels as the overall chuck complex has been surprisingly strong despite the high prices. 
• Chuck Roll prices have been increasing as retailers continue to promote chuck items heavily in their ad features.  
• Sliced beef short rib pricing continues to remain at elevated levels due to limited availability of raw material.  
• Oxtail prices remain steady despite limited cattle supplies and higher demand during the colder winter months.   

With the cattle herd at historically low levels, availability will be the primary issue for certain cuts due to the tight cattle supply and continued strong consumer demand. 

With high beef prices, retailers have shifted to poultry more prominently in their ad features. 

Overall poultry prices will be increasing due to robust domestic and export demand.  

• BI Thighs – Availability has tightened as retailers allocate more space in the meat case to BI thighs in place of higher priced beef items.  
• BL SL Thighs – BL SL Thigh prices have been increasing weekly as the dark meat complex strengthens.  
• Legmeat – Chicken leg meat pricing is on the rise as thigh meat prices increase.  
• Breastmeat – Breast meat prices will be increasing as the entire poultry complex gains strength.   
• Wings – Wing prices have started to increase as poultry packers set aside inventory ahead of March Madness.  
• Turkey – Turkey prices remain high due to tight supplies and the ongoing impact of the HPAI bird flu affecting turkey flocks.   

Poultry Outlook – With high beef prices, poultry remains the protein of choice for consumers seeking value and affordability.  

Pork continues to present good value for both the retail and food service segments as a lower cost protein option than beef.  

Retail demand for lower cost proteins such as sausages, hot dogs, canned meats, etc. remains strong amongst budget conscious consumers.  

• Butts– Boneless butt pricing remains steady due to overall softness in the pork complex.  
• Hams– Ham demand remains strong as tariffs have not negatively impacted exports to Mexico.    
• Back Ribs & Spare Ribs- Rib prices are under pressure as pork packers have started to build up their frozen inventory in preparation for summer. 
• Bellies- Belly pricing has strengthened due to increased seasonal demand at the retail level. Danish pork belly pricing will be increasing as Japan has stepped in heavily to book inventory amidst the outbreak of ASF (African Swine Flu) in Spain. 

Pork Outlook – With high beef prices, retailers are expected to continue to feature pork heavily in future ad features.   

Mahi Mahi  

• Peruvian season is still ongoing.  Small fish are predominately being caught 
• Prices remain strong on all cuts and sizes 
• Availability on loins are still limited. 
• Only small fillets are currently available.  3-5# fillets are the largest available. 
• The larger fish are anticipated to arrive in the coming weeks.  

Ono Loins  

• Ono loins are under pressure due to increased consumption, due to the Mahi situation. 
• The global supply has slowly been depleted and there hasn’t been much caught to replenish the inventories. 
• Ono are usually a by-catch of the Taiwan and Indonesia Mahi season. 
• Due to the poor season, the ono catch has suffered the same effect. 
• There are some boats currently fishing for Ono.  Suppliers are waiting for those boats to return to process their catch and ship.   

Cold Water Atlantic Lobster  

• Frozen tails remain fairly stable in pricing and all sizes are currently available. 
• Live market prices are firming up as we get closer to Chinese New Year.  
  •  Feb. 16th New Year’s Eve  
  •  Feb. 17th New Year’s Day (Year of the Horse) 
  •  March 3rd Lantern Festival (End of New Year’s Celebration) 
• Majority of the Canadian and US Lobsters currently being caught are going straight to the live market. 
• Cooked Claw and Knuckle Meat (CK Meat) is very expensive and hard to find. 
• Cooked Broken Claw and Knuckle Meat (CK Broken Meat) is easier to acquire.  Priced a little more competitive than CK Meat.