Learn the protein market
A reference for the U.S. wholesale beef and pork trade: what the daily cutout numbers measure, how a carcass breaks down, which USDA reports a buyer actually reads, and how experienced buyers interpret the prints. Plain English, and specific enough to settle an argument: IMPS numbers, report codes, bone status, and what the seasonal record actually shows.
90 articles.
Cutouts8
What the daily cutout numbers mean and how to read the USDA boxed beef and pork reports they live in.
- What is the Choice cutoutPlain-English explanation of the USDA Choice boxed beef cutout: how it is calculated, what the LM_XB403 report carries, and why a buyer watches it daily.
- Choice vs Select beefHow USDA quality grades work in practice, what separates Choice from Select, why the spread between the two cutouts matters, and how a buyer uses the difference.
- How to read LM_XB403A walk through USDA's daily boxed beef report: what the headline cutout numbers mean, how to read the primal section, and where load counts and trim items appear.
- What is the pork carcass cutoutHow USDA constructs the pork carcass cutout (LM_PK602), how it differs from the beef cutout, and what a Canadian or U.S. buyer looks for in the daily print.
- The Choice/Select spread (CH/SE)What the Choice minus Select cutout spread measures, why it widens and narrows seasonally, and how grade-flexible buyers use the spread to time program substitutions.
- The cow cutout: the other beef marketWhat the USDA cow cutout (LM_XB405) measures, how boner and breaker cow classes differ, why cull cows are the backbone of the lean grind supply, and how the cow market relates to the fed cattle market.
- Drop value: the part of the animal that is not beefWhat the USDA by-product drop value (AMS 2829) measures, what is in it, hide, offal, tallow, and why the drop credit matters to cattle economics and beef prices.
- What is boxed beef?What boxed beef means, how the box replaced the swinging carcass, and why the boxed beef cutout became the benchmark price for the entire US beef market.
Cuts19
How a carcass breaks down from primal to sub-primal to retail cut, with reference maps for beef and pork.
- Browse all wholesale beef and pork cuts →Every USDA-tracked sub-primal across beef and pork, grouped by primal, with IMPS codes and a click-through to the live chart for each cut.
- Primal, sub-primal, and IMPS codesHow a beef or pork carcass is broken down from primal to sub-primal to retail cut, and what the IMPS code in parentheses on every USDA price line actually identifies.
- Beef primal mapA buyer's reference for the seven beef primals: where each sits on the carcass, what it yields, and how each primal feeds into retail and foodservice programs.
- Pork primal mapA buyer's reference for the six pork primals: loin, butt, picnic, ham, belly, and spareribs. Where each sits on the carcass, what each yields, and how demand is shaped.
- Middle meats vs end meatsThe split between high-value middle meats (rib and loin) and lower-value end meats (chuck and round) and why the relative pricing of the two is one of the cleaner reads on beef demand.
- What is a loadWhat "a load" means in the U.S. wholesale meat trade: the 40,000 pound truckload basis, how USDA reports use it for volume, and why the load count next to a price matters as much as the price.
- Pork loin strap-on vs strap-offWhat the strap is on a boneless pork loin, why fabricators remove it for premium chop specs, and how the strap-on / strap-off spread reads as a substitution signal between commodity retail and restaurant chop programs.
- Lip-on vs lip-off ribeye: what 112A and 112 actually meanThe difference between lip-on and lip-off ribeye, what IMPS 112A vs 112 specifies, where bone-in lip-on fits, and why the same word 'ribeye' covers a wide price spread.
- Strip loin 1x1 vs 0x0: what the trim numbers meanWhat 1x1, 0x0, and 0x1 mean on a strip loin spec: fat trim at the flank and sirloin ends, why 0x0 trades premium, and why 0x1 shorthand needs confirming with the packer.
- St. Louis ribs vs spareribs vs baby backs: the spec differenceThe difference between spareribs (IMPS 416), St. Louis style (416A), and baby back ribs (422): where each comes off the hog, weight brackets, and what vac and combo mean on a quote.
- Pork picnic cuts explained: bone-in vs boneless, smoker trim vs cushionWhat the pork picnic is, the difference between smoker trim (bone-in), picnic meat, and cushion specs in the IMPS 405 family, and how to tell bone status from the item name.
- Beef navel: the cut behind beef bacon (IMPS 121A)What the beef navel is (the boneless short plate, IMPS 121A), why it is the raw material for beef bacon and navel pastrami, and why halal programs treat it the way pork programs treat the belly.
- Brisket flat vs point vs packer: what you are actually buyingThe brisket flat trades at a persistent premium of roughly 65 to 90 percent over the whole deckle-off brisket, in every year since 2001. What the specs mean and why the gap is structural.
- Plate short rib vs chuck short rib: two different racks, one nameBoth trade as short ribs, but IMPS 123A comes off the short plate (ribs 6 to 8) and IMPS 130 off the chuck (ribs 2 to 5). What separates the specs, who buys each, and why the plate rack carries a persistent premium.
- Ham size classes: 20-23s vs 23-27s and what the spread saysUSDA reports trimmed selected hams in weight brackets. The 23-27 lb class is the volume workhorse; the lighter 20-23s trade scarcer and usually a touch premium. What the classes mean and how to read the spread.
- Chuck roll vs shoulder clod: the two halves of the chuck marketIMPS 116A chuck roll and IMPS 114 shoulder clod are the chuck's two big boneless subprimals. Different muscles, different channels, and a roll premium that has held on 99% of trading days for five years.
- The beef round: inside, outside, eye, and knuckleThe round breaks into four working subprimals: top inside (IMPS 168), outside flat (171B), eye of round (171C), and knuckle (167). What each one is, where deli roast beef actually comes from, and how the ladder trades.
- Inside skirt vs outside skirt: the fajita market's two productsIMPS 121C (outside skirt, the diaphragm) and 121D (inside skirt, the belly wall) both sell as fajita meat, but the outside has held a large premium on 98% of trading days for five years. What separates the specs and who buys each.
- Picanha, coulotte, top sirloin cap: three names, one cutPicanha, coulotte and top sirloin cap all describe IMPS 184D, the biceps femoris cap off the top sirloin butt. What separates the names, and what a buyer should specify.
- Chuck flap vs flap meat: same word, opposite ends of the carcassChuck flap (IMPS 116G, serratus ventralis) and flap meat (IMPS 185A, bottom sirloin) share a word and nothing else. What each cut is and how to keep a quote unambiguous.
Trim6
Chemical lean trim, the grind formula market, and why trim spreads drive ground beef cost.
- What CL90 means (chemical lean)What chemical lean means in the meat trade, how the CL number is measured, and why a buyer of grind raw material reads CL90, CL85, CL65, and CL50 as separate markets with separate dynamics.
- The lean trim ladderHow CL50, CL65, CL85, CL90, and imported lean trim relate to each other, why their prices move together but not in lockstep, and how a grind formulator reads the ladder.
- Why grind formulas matterHow ground beef and ground pork formulations are built, why a small CL spread move shows up in finished product cost, and what a buyer can learn from reading the trim market.
- Lean trim shortage: how to spot it 2 weeks outWhen 90CL and 81CL lean trim start to tighten, ground beef cost moves within two weeks. The four signals that fire before the headline price reacts, and how to read them in combination.
- What drives the price of 80/20 ground beefWhere 80/20 ground beef prices actually come from: the lean trim blend behind the label, the cow slaughter and import supply levers, and how to follow the market with USDA data.
- Imported lean: how Australian and New Zealand 90s anchor the grind marketWhy imported grass-fed lean trim from Australia and New Zealand is a load-bearing part of the US ground beef supply, how NW_LS421 reports it, and how imports and domestic 90s arbitrage.
Poultry12
The USDA chicken and turkey reports, the parts markets behind them, and the export and holiday cycles that drive each line.
- How to read the USDA National Chicken ReportWhat the USDA AMS Weekly National Chicken Report (AMS 3646) covers, how the parts table is organized, what FOB plant pricing means for chicken, and how a buyer reads the composite.
- Breast, tenders, wings: what drives each chicken partWhy boneless skinless breast, tenders, and wings trade as separate markets with separate demand engines, and how a buyer reads the white meat complex on the USDA chicken report.
- Leg quarters: the export side of the chicken marketWhy chicken leg quarters are the most export-dependent line on the USDA chicken report, what sets their price floor, and what a leg quarter print tells a buyer about trade conditions.
- The turkey market and the long run-up to ThanksgivingHow the US turkey market prices a November holiday months in advance: the USDA turkey report (AMS 3647), whole bird classes, the frozen inventory cycle, and why the wholesale market is quiet by the time consumers shop.
- Boneless skinless chicken breast: what actually sets the priceThe anchor line of the US chicken market: what boneless skinless breast is, what moves it, and the seasonal pattern measured from four years of USDA weekly prints.
- Chicken wings and the Super Bowl: what the prints actually showThe wing run-up into the Super Bowl is real but modest, the post-game collapse mostly is not, and the strongest wing month is not in winter at all. Measured from four years of USDA weekly prints.
- Boneless thighs vs breast: the dark meat premium is real nowBoneless skinless thigh meat has traded above boneless skinless breast in 29 of 30 weeks in 2026. What flipped the classic white-over-dark relationship, and what it means for a buyer.
- Bird flu (HPAI) and the poultry market: what it actually does to priceHow highly pathogenic avian influenza disrupts the US chicken and turkey supply, why turkey and export lines take the hardest hit, and how a buyer reads an outbreak in real time.
- What is a WOG? The whole bird term the chicken trade runs onWOG means without giblets: a ready-to-cook whole broiler with the giblets removed. What the term covers, why weight ranges matter, and where WOGs show up in the market.
- WOG size classes: why a 2.5-pound bird and a 4-pound bird are two different marketsUSDA prices whole chickens by weight class. The smallest WOGs trade at a premium to the heaviest that has widened from about 7 cents to about 47 cents a pound since 2022. What the size ladder in the National Chicken Report says, and why.
- Turkey breast beyond Thanksgiving: the boneless breast market, measuredThe whole-bird story ends in November. Boneless turkey breast trades every week of the year, and four years of USDA prints show a market defined by two supply shocks, a steady frozen discount, and a breast that costs twice the thigh.
- Chicken paws: the export line that never appears in the USDA price reportThe Weekly National Chicken Report has no paws line. The product is almost entirely exported, mostly to China, and its value rides on trade access rather than on any domestic print. What the public record does show, and why a buyer of breasts and leg quarters should care.
Reports16
The USDA reports a working buyer reads, when each releases, and what each measures.
- The USDA report release scheduleWhat the major USDA livestock and meat reports are, when they release through the week, and how a buyer organizes the cadence into a workable weekly rhythm.
- The USDA meat price reports, explainedWhat is actually inside each USDA meat price report: boxed beef, pork cutout, lean trim, cash cattle, drop value, and retail features, and how buyers read them.
- AMS, MARS, ERS, NASS: who publishes whatThe four USDA agencies a meat buyer encounters, what each one publishes, and how to know which agency owns the report you are reading.
- The Cattle on Feed reportWhat USDA's monthly Cattle on Feed report measures: inventory, placements, marketings, and what each number tells a beef buyer about the next two to four months.
- The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs reportWhat the quarterly USDA Hogs and Pigs report measures, why the breeding herd and pigs-saved-per-litter numbers drive supply forecasts, and how a pork buyer uses the report.
- The Cold Storage reportWhat USDA's monthly Cold Storage report measures, how to read inventory levels by protein and product, and what cold storage tells a buyer about supply and demand pressure.
- What FOB plant meansFOB plant is the contract basis under which USDA reports wholesale meat prices. What it means, what it excludes, and why a Canadian or international buyer adjusts every USDA number for landed cost.
- USDA Report 3228: how to read weekly retail feature activityThe 3228 retail feature activity report shows how many US grocery stores feature each beef cut each week (pork and chicken run in companion reports). The lead time it gives a wholesale buyer, and what to do with it.
- LM_PK602: how to read the USDA daily pork reportA working guide to USDA's National Daily Pork Report FOB Plant (LM_PK602): the carcass cutout, the six primal values, and the item sections from loin cuts to jowls.
- LM_PK600: the morning pork cutout, and why the afternoon print is the one the trade quotesWhat USDA's morning pork report (LM_PK600) is, how it differs from the afternoon LM_PK602 print of record, and how a buyer should use each edition of the daily pork cutout.
- Why is USDA meat price data public? Mandatory Price Reporting, explainedThe Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act: why large packers must report the prices they pay and receive, what data it created, and where the system's edges are.
- Urner Barry vs USDA prices: why the two numbers differWhy an Urner Barry (Expana) quote and a USDA print for the same product rarely match: assessed versus reported prices, delivered versus FOB plant, and size tiers versus composites.
- LM_CT169: the 5 Area cash cattle report that prices the packer's biggest costWhat USDA's 5 Area Weekly Weighted Average Direct Slaughter Cattle report (LM_CT169) covers, live versus dressed basis, and why a meat buyer should care about a cattle report.
- LM_HG201: the prior day hog report behind the cash hog priceWhat USDA's National Daily Direct Prior Day Hog Report (LM_HG201) covers, what a weighted average net price on a carcass basis means, and how it feeds pork packer margin math.
- LM_XB402: the morning boxed beef report, and why the afternoon print settles the dayWhat USDA's morning boxed beef report (LM_XB402) covers, how it differs from the afternoon LM_XB403 print of record, and how a buyer should use each edition.
- The kill: how cattle slaughter gets counted, estimated, and revisedWhere the daily and weekly cattle slaughter numbers come from: FSIS inspection counts, USDA same-day estimates, and the actual federally inspected totals that follow.
Markets20
Packer margin, cattle pricing methods, the cutout-versus-live spread, and seasonality.
- Labor Day: what actually fades after the grilling season closesTen years of USDA prints say the post-Labor Day fade is real for ground beef and mostly myth for brisket and plate short rib. What the data shows, measured against the cutout so the whole market's moves don't masquerade as cut seasonality.
- Packer marginHow packer margin is calculated for beef and pork, why it tends toward zero over time but spikes in either direction, and what packer margin pressure tells a buyer about upcoming kill levels.
- Negotiated vs formula cattleHow U.S. fed cattle clear the market: negotiated cash trade versus formula and grid contracts, why the negotiated share matters for price discovery, and what each pricing mode means for a buyer.
- Cutout vs live: how the spread readsThe relationship between the boxed beef cutout and live cattle prices, why the gap (called the spread or basis) is a packer margin proxy, and what unusual spreads tell a buyer.
- Beef and pork seasonalityHow beef and pork prices move through the year on predictable seasonal patterns, what the major demand windows are, and how a buyer plans against the rhythm.
- The cattle herd cycle: why your beef cost is set three years in advanceHerd liquidation makes beef cheap before it makes beef expensive. Where the US cattle cycle stands now, what the kill data says about retention, and the timeline from a rancher's decision to your quote.
- Memorial Day brisket setup: timing, pricing, and the seasonal patternBrisket runs the most predictable seasonal cycle in the cutout. How prices move into Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day. When to lock coverage, when to fade, and what the print history says.
- Ham's holiday premium is real, and raw prices hide itMeasured against the pork cutout, ham beat the complex in November and December in 10 of 10 years. In raw prices that premium is nearly invisible, because the whole pork complex is falling into winter.
- Pork butt and BBQ season: the premium, measured properlyBoneless pork butt beat the pork cutout in May and June in 9 of 11 years. The July strength most buyers point to is not butt at all, it is the complex.
- Chuck roll runs opposite the grillThe chuck roll lost ground to the Choice cutout in every one of the last eleven Mays and Junes, and gained through the fall. It is the clearest counter-seasonal cut in the beef complex.
- New World screwworm and the beef marketWhat the New World screwworm is, how the US eradicated it once with sterile flies, why the current northward spread closed the border to Mexican cattle, and where the beef price exposure actually sits.
- Landed cost: from FOB plant to your dockHow a buyer converts a quoted FOB plant meat price into a true landed cost: freight, border clearance, duty and quota status, and currency, with the Canadian import case worked through.
- Live cattle futures vs cash: what the basis tells a meat buyerHow the CME live cattle board and the USDA negotiated cash market relate, what basis and convergence mean, and how a beef buyer should read a board that disagrees with cash.
- Prime, Choice, Select: how beef grading actually worksWhat USDA beef quality grades mean, how marbling and maturity set the grade, who pays for grading, and why the Choice/Select split is the one that moves wholesale money.
- Ribeye in December: the holiday premium and the January cliffWhat ten years of USDA prints say about ribeye's December: a real holiday premium most years, a peak that often lands earlier, and a January break that is ten for ten.
- Bacon season and belly prices: the summer premium, honestly measuredTen years of USDA belly prints on the BLT-season story: a summer premium that shows up most years, a peak that wanders, and a fall fade that is the steadier half of the trade.
- Why is beef so expensive?The machine behind high beef prices: the cattle herd cycle, the multi-year lag between a rancher's decision and a steak, and the signals that say where prices go next.
- Lean hog futures vs the pork cutout: reading the two pork pricesHow the CME lean hog contract, the cash hog index it settles to, and the USDA pork cutout relate, and what a pork buyer should do when the board and the product disagree.
- The Big Four: why four companies process most of America's beefCargill, JBS, Tyson, and National Beef process the large majority of US fed cattle. What that concentration means for cattle pricing, plant-disruption risk, and how a buyer should read it.
- What a packing plant closure does to cattle and beef pricesWhy a beef plant closure pressures cattle prices more than beef prices: capacity versus the herd, what happened after Tyson closed Lexington, and the 2026 closures.
Concepts5
The reading frameworks: WoW versus YoY versus vs-seasonal, volume context, and why pork bellies are erratic.
- WoW, YoY, and vs-seasonal: which signal matters whenThe three most common time-comparison reads in meat markets: week-over-week, year-over-year, and versus the five-year seasonal norm. What each one captures and when each is the right read.
- Reading volume on USDA printsWhy volume matters as much as price on every USDA report, what "thin trade" means, and how to tell a real signal from a noise move using the load count column.
- Why pork bellies move so muchPork bellies are the most volatile primal in the U.S. meat trade. Why bacon demand, weight bands, freezer cycles, and a small set of slicing plants combine to produce regular price swings of $10 per cwt or more.
- How wholesale meat gets pricedWhy a wholesale meat quote is not simply cost plus margin: how perishability and carcass balance force a clearing market, and how to read a quote against the USDA benchmark.
- Can you predict beef and pork prices? What ten years of USDA prints sayBeef and pork price forecasts sound useful until you test them. Ten years of USDA Choice cutout prints show where a forecast helps, where it fails, and what a meat buyer should check instead.
Canada4
For Canadian importers: the beef tariff rate quota system, over-quota tariffs, trade-agreement origin choices, and Canadian versus U.S. grading.
- Is Canada AAA beef the same as USDA Choice?How Canada AAA, AA and Prime line up against USDA Choice, Select and Prime, where the two grading systems diverge, and what the equivalence means for a buyer.
- Canada beef TRQ: how the tariff rate quota shapes import pricingWhat the Canada beef tariff rate quota is, how the WTO pools (Australia, New Zealand, MFN) are allocated, why fill rates matter, and where CUSMA, CETA, and CPTPP origins fit without a quota.
- Canada's over-quota beef tariff: what happens when the import pool fillsWhen the Canadian MFN beef quota for South American origins hits 100%, the 26.5% over-quota tariff kicks in on every new permit. The mechanics, the timing, and how to read it as a buyer.
- Canadian beef origin choice: where the trade agreement actually mattersUS, EU, Australian, and New Zealand beef are usually picked on price, spec, and futures vs spot. South American beef is the one origin where the trade-policy variable (MFN quota) genuinely drives the decision.