Year-end Dairy Supply and More Prime Beef
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.**Normally, the amount of dairy products in inventory at processing facilities across the U.S. goes down at the end of the year thanks to the higher need for butter, cheese and other dairy products used to make delicious Holiday treats and meals.
But, according to milkbusiness.com, 2018 has NOT been a normal year with cheese inventories actually increasing.
The October USDA cold storage report shows supplies of American-style cheese were up 43-million pounds over projections.
https://www.milkbusiness.com/article/cheese-inventories-are-unseasonably-high?mkt_tok
**American cattlemen are producing more Prime beef than ever. USDA's latest steer and heifer grading report shows carcasses grading Prime accounted for 9.6% of all cattle graded, with another 71% grading Choice.
The Steiner Consulting Groups tells agweb.com, in mid-
November, over 80% of all cattle in the U.S. graded Choice or better, a shift from 10 years ago when fewer than 60% of cattle graded Choice or higher.
Reasons include the trend in upgrading cattle genetics AND more consistent, high-tech processes used to grade cattle.
https://www.agweb.com/article/record-prime-beef-production-drives-price-decline/?mkt_tok
**New labeling gets romaine lettuce back on grocery store shelves.
Agnetwest.com reports following the E. coli scare and the recall of romaine, retailers can again sell the salad staple after the FDA gave the notice for retailers to sell romaine with new labels identifying the growing region and harvest dates.
The FDA says anything outside of the Northern or Central Coast of California, or that is greenhouse or hydroponically grown is safe.
http://agnetwest.com/new-labeling-romaine-lettuce-shelves/