The Fall and Winter holidays are still a few months out, but USDA says the essentials for holiday cooking have been accumulating in cold storage.
Stocks of bone-in and boneless hams at the end of July totaled 139.2 million pounds, 1.2 percent above last year. Whole-hen turkey stocks totaled 109.4 million pounds at the end of July, an increase of 12.5 percent from the same time last year. That’s even though the 2024 turkey production is projected to be lower than last year. Butter in cold storage at the end of July was seven percent above 2023.
The 2024 beef production forecast is adjusted slightly higher on reported slaughter data through early September. The third quarter of 2024 lamb and mutton import forecast was raised from 80 to 90 million pounds. The 2024 dairy forecasts for the average number of milk cows, milk per cow, and total milk production were lowered to 9.33 million head, 24,200 pounds, and 225.9 billion pounds, respectively.