Better Chicken Supplies?

Hi Folks. The latest Farm to Fork: The Innovators Podcast episode dropped Monday talking carbon negative cattle and milk with Austin Allred with Royal Family Farming . Learn how our cattle aren't the bad guys after all and may be the solution to a healthier planet. Listen on your favorite player or click here.

So what's the solution to these inflated beef and chicken prices, huh? The Datum FS Foodservice Commodity Index climbed to a 26 (think Chase Utley) month high last week. And yes, a big driver of that was expensive beef and chicken prices. For those keeping score, and that's kind of fun sometimes, the boneless skinless chicken breast market has inched to its most expensive level in just over two years.

A combination of factors has pushed wholesale chicken markets upward including stable retail prices, strong consumption and lackluster production. The latter is expected to improve in the coming months as shown with the chart at top. Broiler chick placements are now tracking near 2 percent above prior year which suggest output may do the same in the fall. However, important to remember that versus two years ago, broiler chick placements are relatively flat. And chicken output in Q4 is only projected by the USDA to be ~1 percent better than 2022.

Want to learn how Datum FS can help you anticipate commodity volatility? Learn more at DatumFS.com or direct message me. Thanks for reading.