NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD-TV) — U.S. boxed beef values (PDF Version) are easing from holiday highs, but the latest data point to seasonal adjustment rather than weakening demand or deteriorating fundamentals. Choice cutout values slipped into the low-$350s late in December, yet five-day averages remain historically elevated, signaling continued tightness across the beef complex.
The modest decline reflects post-holiday inventory resets and a narrowing Choice/Select spread, not a collapse in buying interest. Load counts fell week to week but remain roughly double last year’s levels, indicating packers are still actively moving product despite softer pricing.
Packer margins are tightening slightly as boxed beef eases, but throughput remains the dominant factor. Ground beef and trimming values are holding firm, supporting overall cutout stability and limiting downside risk. The Packers continue to manage production carefully, as reduced slaughter capacity and limited cattle supplies constrain flexibility.
For producers, the bigger signal is structural. Lower placements, no meaningful herd expansion, and shrinking slaughter capacity mean fed cattle availability will remain tight into spring. Even with short-term pullbacks in boxed beef prices, packers will need to compete for cattle to keep plants operating efficiently.
The market is pausing, not turning.
Farm-Level Takeaway: Seasonal boxed beef softness does not change the tight-supply outlook — leverage remains closer to the farm gate heading into 2026.
Tony St. James, RFD-TV Markets Specialist
Where the Food Comes From producer Donna Sanders takes us along on a behind-the-scenes look at filming the show’s newest episode, “Clemson Blue,” where university cheesemakers reveal how they put the “blue” in their award-winning blue cheese.
October 26, 2023 09:00 AM
·
It is in there, the mold — those rich blue veins in creamy blue cheese that make you either love it or loathe it — but how does it get there? This bonus scene from “Clemson Dairy,” Season 4, Episode 4 of
Where the Food Comes From, explains how and why that happens.
October 25, 2023 09:00 AM
·
No, it is not some new college course — Clemson has been making blue cheese since 1941, and the product has developed a worldwide following and won some pretty big awards. With good reason — it is fantastic stuff. It is also fascinating to see how it is made. Check out this sneak peek look at the latest episode of Where the Food Comes From, “Clemson Blue.”
October 24, 2023 11:32 AM
·
The machines do all the work at Hickory Hill Milk in South Carolina, and the pampered cows get on-demand service. The team at Where the Food Comes From shares a special, behind-the-scenes account filming the show’s newest episode, Robot Dairy, premiering this Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, at 9:30 p.m. ET on RFD-TV!
October 19, 2023 09:00 AM
·
How does a robot milk a cow?
October 18, 2023 09:00 AM
·
The machines do all the work at Hickory Hill Milk in South Carolina, where the pampered cows get on-demand service. They make a premium cream line of milk you still have to shake. It is so good it is used to make the world-famous Clemson blue cheese.
October 17, 2023 01:55 PM
·
