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Poultry

The price of Jumbo and Medium size breast, tenders, and wings rises in response to seasonal demand. The demand for boneless thigh and leg meat is beginning to increase. Due to rising labor and food prices, the price of whole birds and cut ups is on the rise.

Beef

Winter storms and their potential effects on grades and weights are a hot topic in the market. Tenderloins and ribs are moving at a reduced price but less fiercely than in previous weeks. Strips continue to lose popularity as it seems that most of the buying has already been done. Chucks and rounds are still trading steadily, with current levels of supply and demand being balanced.

Pork

Pork butts are still in demand and will continue to be weak through February. Due to inclusions in retailer advertisements for the rest of the month, loin prices increased somewhat. The price of ribs is keeping steady and is likely to move sideways for the foreseeable future. Due to the high amounts of cold storage, bellies are declining. Cushion demand has slowed, and this market’s decline is ongoing.

The Sea

Seafood

Since the majority of crab fisherman switched to targeting cod, Alaskan cod fishing has started and is anticipated to soon fill its quota. Due to excessive stockpiles floating in the U.S. market, the imported shrimp market is still unstable and poor. Due to the reduction of excess stocks, the mahi-mahi market is stabilizing.

The Garden

Produce

We continue to see a very low supply of cucumbers in South Florida and Mexico, and we don’t anticipate things getting much better for a few weeks. The availability of color peppers is excellent, and squash and bell peppers appear to be lessening. Due to many weather-related effects over the past three months, Florida tomato production is down this week and is still far below average for this time of year. Although not particularly alarming, we anticipate lesser production and higher than usual market pricing. Since the crop is currently being affected by the effects of last month’s freeze, which resulted in extremely low yields and greater loss than anticipated, the corn market will be quite short. Cold temperatures and weather damage are producing shortages this season, but the hot pepper market appears to be holding steady, with Serrano and Anaheim being the most expensive and scarcest varieties.

The Kitchen Sink

Dairy

As markets search for a floor because of reasonable demand, shell egg production is declining. Markets for cheese and butter are falling this week due to plentiful supplies and weak demand. The cost of Cream and Culture is going down in February.

Grain

The market for soybean oil remained stable because to improvements in South American weather. The recent drop in canola seed costs is a result of Germany’s potential move away from grain-based biofuels. Low demand causes Palm to decline.