Front and hind feet come off different joints. Canada's export spec defines both. Front feet are cut below the elbow joint of the front legs and do not include that joint, the carpal. Hind feet are cut below the knee joint of the back legs and do not include that joint, the tarsal. Both are mostly bone, cartilage, tendon, ligament and skin, with only traces of fat and muscle, and both are trimmed practically free of hair.
| Front feet | Hind feet | |
|---|---|---|
| Cut | Below the elbow (carpal) joint | Below the knee (tarsal) joint |
| Canadian code | CPI C353 | CPI C126 |
| Main USDA line | Front feet, poly, frozen | Hind feet, poly, frozen |
| Median print, 5 years | 80¢/lb | 66¢/lb |
| Loads, last 12 months | about 540 | about 490 |
Most feet trade frozen
Over the last twelve months, 92 percent of the feet loads USDA reported were frozen: about 1,040 of 1,130. The two main lines are frozen front feet and frozen hind feet, both poly-packed. The fresh lines print far less often.
Front feet usually price higher
USDA printed both frozen lines on 1,232 of the same days over the five years to October 2026. The front feet were higher on 77 percent of them. The median gap was 10 percent, about 7 cents a pound. It ran widest in November.
The prints do not say why front feet carry the higher price.
Other lines on the report
USDA also prints split front feet, fresh and frozen, and combo lines for both. They trade small, a handful of loads a year each, so a quote on one of those has a thin line to check against.