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Friday's read

August 28, 2026

Friday's read below, in full. Free every trading day. Subscribers get the movers behind it, full price history, and the supply side: whether packers are killing more or backing off, and what that does to your cost.

Beef printed 16 quotes higher, 23 lower, on 1.6x normal volume. Trading down to Select saves less today: the Choice/Select spread narrowed $7.02 to $15.15/cwt. Choice brisket deckle-off boneless is trading below its three week range. Pork derind belly 9-13# broke its run lower and closed up. Beef and pork split: the cutout went one way and the carcass the other. Choice eye of round has closed lower four days in a row. Friday's weekly chicken report: tenders have shed 38% over 13 weeks without a single higher close.
MEATREAD.COM · DAILY READ · August 28, 2026 · PERMALINK

Latest USDA close · August 28, 2026

Live · updates every trading day after the ~4 PM ET USDA close
Choice cutout
$376.23
-5.13 day-on-day
Select cutout
$361.08
+1.89 day-on-day
Pork carcass
$96.06
+2.26 day-on-day
Beef loads
108
+4% vs 5yr avg
Pork loads
219
-8% vs 5yr avg
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Ground beef, beef CL trim 50 to 90, and pork trim. Cheapest path to your lean point, plus whole-muscle vs 90CL.
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Cutting margins and primal spreads across beef round and chuck, pork hams, bellies, and loin. Know if fabricating pays before you buy.
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Which cuts stores are featuring this week, by primal and cut, split across conventional, organic, ABF, and halal.
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The day's read on the cutout and the cuts that drove it. Free, every trading day.
On every cut

Point it at any cut. Get the read back.

Pull up any beef or pork cut and Meat Read reads the chart the way a desk veteran would. What the trend is doing, where the seasonal pressure sits, and what the forecast horizon (13, 26, or 52 weeks) projects. Now point it at the Choice, Select, or pork cutout index itself, with volume and seasonal overlaid. Not a dashboard you have to interpret. A read you can act on.

CoveredBeef middle meatsEnd meatsTrim & grindCow (cull cutout, 90CL lean)Variety meatsPork primalsChicken partsTurkey parts
brisket deckle-offBeefChoice
Sample
Brisket, Deckle-off, BnlsIMPS 120469.20¢/lbExpensive
Oct 2003 start · 23 yrs of daily USDA prints loaded
1M6M1Y2Y5YALL
SeasonalForecastHolidaysPrior yearsVolume
13W FORECASTLabor DayMemorial DayLabor DayMemorial Day5383792204695-yr seasonal— price · ··· 5yr seasonal · ░ 5yr band · — 13w forecastBRISKET, DECKLE-OFF, BNLS · MEATREAD.COM · USDA AMS
VOL 2.7 ld · 1.9x avgVS SEAS +25.6%DOD -1.3%WOW -2.2%4W -2.1%YOY +2.8%
The call
Brisket came off on the heaviest trading day in a month. That means buyers were still there on the way down, so this is real selling, not sellers just lowering their asking price. If it drops again on heavy volume, the buyers have stepped back. If it goes quiet instead, brisket holds its premium.
A market read, not trading or financial advice.

Sample above is the two-year view with the seasonal band, the 13-week projection, and the holidays that move this cut, all switched on. Free shows you the chart, the week-over-week, and six months of history. Paid gives you the read, the seasonal, forecast, holiday, volume, and spread overlays, the 13, 26 and 52 week horizons, and the full history: up to 25 years of daily USDA prints on beef.

Track record
Every call the Read makes gets graded in public.
Each Weekly Meat Read commits to directional calls on named cuts. When a call's window closes, it is scored right or wrong against that cut's actual USDA print. Nothing gets deleted, nothing is graded with hindsight.
58%of calls graded right in the last 90 days (22 of 41).
See every call, scored →
The 20-year floor under it
Separate measure: the same signal engine backtested across two decades of USDA prints. Cuts it flags cheap firm within a month 63% of the time, versus 52% with no signal.
Signal
63%
No signal
52%
16,468 backtested calls · 308 cuts · 2006 to 2026 · walk-forward, no hindsight
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
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The reference layer is open: live USDA cut prices, the cutout pages, the report calendar, and a library of market guides written for buyers, not analysts.

Market library
Buyer-grade explainers: cutouts, trim ladders, spreads, and how to read every USDA report.
Live cut prices
Every beef and pork cut USDA printed, organized by primal, updated every business day.
Choice cutout today
The daily boxed beef number with history and the Choice/Select spread.
Ribeye price today
A per-cut page: live price, six months of history, the full IMPS spec.
USDA calendar
When every report prints this week, US and Canadian holidays included.
Data sources
USDA AMS·USDA NASS·USDA ERS·CME·Global Affairs Canada·Market FX

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The trial runs seven days. You enter a card to start, through Stripe, but you are not charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel anytime before then in one click. The trial is available once per account.

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