Meat market read, Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Strip loin broke hard at last close, down 108¢/lb on the session and outside its prior range to the downside, and the seasonal history is unambiguous: another 117¢/lb lower on average over the next four weeks, with the worst case past 250¢/lb. That's the post-July-4th middle meat hangover playing out in real time. Rib and ribeye moved the other direction, up 182¢/lb on the session and 219¢/lb on the month, now sitting well above where it's traded lately. History adds another 130¢/lb from here on average, so that run isn't obviously spent, but every primal in the complex is already running rich and thin beef loads at last close gave back a fraction on Choice. The cutout giving ground on light volume while pork firms on heavy loads is the divergence worth sitting with. Pork carcass added 1.70¢/lb on what the loads data reads as genuine broad demand. Beef doesn't have that bid right now.

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