The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is sending notice as a reminder that additional product will be added to the ham primal and pork carcass cutout on October 31, 2016. By adding the individual ham muscles (insides, outsides, and knuckles) to the ham primal, the pork cutout will provide a more reflective ham primal value, thus ensuring a more representative overall carcass cutout value. The change reflects AMS’ commitment to providing market information that accurately depict the value of the commodities we cover and the evolving trends of the industries we serve.
AMS has provided voluntary pork carcass cutout values and primal style values for several decades now. Prior to 1998, only the pork carcass cutout was calculated, reported, and quoted as US #1, #2, #3, and #4, without any primal or sub-primal values being calculated. Additionally, only bone-in hams were used in the calculations. However, industry has gradually moved to producing more boneless hams versus bone-in hams on an annual basis. As such, the pork carcass cutout calculations and values were changed in 1998 to reflect the model and methodology currently being used outside of yield updates, which includes primal and sub-primal calculations and values. Since 1998 and prior to Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR), pork companies primarily reported voluntary prices for boneless hams as either 3-piece, 4-piece, or 5-piece, even though there were sub-primal lines for the individual ham muscles on the report.
After analyzing data since introducing pork into LMR in 2013, it has been noted that most of the tonnage of boneless hams is broken out into the individual muscles and is invoiced this way. These changes will incorporate this unused tonnage into the ham primal calculation, which is part of the pork carcass cutout calculation. The methodology for calculating the primal styles and cutout will remain the same.
If you have any questions, contact Mike Lynch, Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News Director, at (202) 720-4846; or Taylor Cox, Field Chief, at (515) 284-4460.
Livestock, Poultry, and Seed Program