Tightening meat supplies reflect robust consumer demand

Total red meat supplies in freezers in May was 2% lower than the previous month and down 4% from the year prior to 879 million pounds. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s latest “Cold Storage” report, total beef stocks came in at 408 million pounds, a 3% decrease from the previous month and 1% reduction from 2024. At 451 million pounds, frozen pork supplies were down just 1% from April, but 7% from last year.Boneless beef was down 2% from a year ago