A pork neckbone is the neck of the hog with its meat left on. USDA's spec, IMPS Series 400 item 421, says the piece must contain at least two cervical vertebrae and one to four thoracic vertebrae, with the adjoining ribs and the intercostal lean between them. It is sold by the pound as a bone-in cooking item: stocks, greens, soups, the slow-cooked dishes that want bone and a little meat.
USDA prints it under ten names. Two words say how much meat is on the bone, trimmed or untrimmed. Three say the pack, gas, poly or combo. Frozen lines carry fzn. The pack is the bigger price lever, which surprises people who expect the trim to be.
| Median print, 12 months | Printed on | Loads, 12 months | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trimmed, poly | 66¢/lb | every trading day | about 270 |
| Trimmed, poly, frozen | 45¢/lb | 97% of days | about 310 |
| Untrimmed, combo | 38¢/lb | 67% of days | about 290 |
| Trimmed, gas | 89¢/lb | 79% of days | about 80 |
| Untrimmed, gas | 94¢/lb | 76% of days | about 75 |
| Untrimmed, poly | 69¢/lb | 66% of days | about 40 |
| Trimmed, combo | 31¢/lb | 46% of days | about 100 |
Three lines carry most of the volume: fresh trimmed poly, frozen trimmed poly, and untrimmed combo. The gas lines are small, under half a load on a usual day.
The pack sets the price
The same neckbone in a different box prints at a different price, and the gaps are large and steady.
Gas is what the trade calls the retail-ready, gas-flushed pack. It printed 26 percent over the poly line, at the median, on 96 percent of the days both printed over five years.
Poly is a poly-lined box, the line most buyers quote. It printed about double the combo line, on every one of 567 shared days.
Combo is the bulk bin, the pack further processors buy. It is the floor of the ladder.
So a buyer comparing a gas quote to a combo quote is looking at two and a half times the price for the same bones. The spread is packaging, handling and lot size, not the meat.
Trimmed prints under untrimmed
USDA prints a trimmed and an untrimmed line in each pack and does not publish a spec for the difference. The data is clear about which costs more: the trimmed line prints under the untrimmed one.
| Pack | Trimmed vs untrimmed, median | Trimmed higher on |
|---|---|---|
| Poly | -2.5% | 43% of days |
| Gas | -6.5% | 27% of days |
| Combo | -9.2% | 37% of days |
The plain reading is that trimmed means more of the lean has come off for trim, so less meat is left on the bone and the piece is worth less per pound. That is how the trade reads the word; it is not written in a spec, so treat it as the trade's meaning, not USDA's.
Frozen is a third off
Frozen trimmed poly printed 35 percent under the fresh line at the median, and never above it, on 1,076 shared days over five years. The frozen line is also the biggest by volume, about 310 loads in the last twelve months against 270 fresh. More neckbones trade frozen than fresh, and the frozen line is the cheaper one by a wide margin.
When neckbones are dear
Against the pork carcass, neckbones run richest in winter and cheapest in summer. Over five years the trimmed poly line, taken as a share of the pork carcass cutout, ran 16 percent above its own normal in November, 14 percent in December and 10 percent in January, and 13 percent below it in July. That is the cold-weather cooking season, and it is measured against the carcass, so it is the cut's own season and not the pork market's.
The fresh trimmed poly line spent the middle 80 percent of the last five years between 65 and 82 cents a pound, with a five-year median of 72.
How to read a quote
Ask which pack before you compare prices; a gas quote and a combo quote are different products. Trimmed is the cheaper bone, not the dearer one. And if the quote is frozen, the fresh line is a third higher, so do not read a frozen price as the market for fresh.