With plenty of meat supply, prices continue to decrease

The US Dept. of Agriculture, in its July Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook, forecast higher pork and beef production and lower prices for hogs and cattle in 2018 than in 2017. Previously, the USDA estimated July 1 cattle-on-feed up 4 percent from a year earlier and the highest since the data series began 22 years ago, and the June 1 US total hog inventory up 3 percent from a year ago and the highest since records began in 1964. Exports of pork and beef were forecast to increase from 2017, but tenuous trade relationships with some major export destinations add a level of uncertainty. As a result, there is no shortage of red meat.