The data for all meat and poultry species appear in the table on page 2 (see link below). Of the major species, only the chicken industry was able to draw inventories down during February and only the turkey industry showed lower stocks than one year ago. The chart at right shows the monthly data back to 2000. Some items that we believe are important form the report include:

• Stocks of all meat and poultry grew by 1.7 per cent during February and stood at 2.079 billion pounds at month’s end. That is 8.5 per cent higher than one year ago but we need to keep in mind that the February 2010 inventory of 1.916 billion pounds was one of the lowest monthly totals during the past decade. This month’s total is still well within the lower half of freezer inventory totals since 2000.
  
  
• The largest percentage increase during February was for turkey at +17 per cent but at this time of year turkey accounts for a relatively small portion of the total. The largest unit increase in February was for pork at +39.3 million pounds. Higher ham stocks accounted for 44 per cent of the increase and this year’s late date for Easter is one reason for the large ham number.
  
  
• The 578 million pounds of pork in freezers on 1 February is the highest figure since mid-2009. A normal seasonal increase from this point could take pork stocks to near record levels in April or May. Higher sales to Korea is one driver of this increase, though, as frozen inventories often do grow in preparation for higher export trade.
  
  
• Chicken inventories remain high but fell by 7 per cent during February. Chicken companies’ recent reductions in growth (they haven’t actually reduced output yet!) and better exports both contributed to the decline. Leg products stocks were down 19 per cent for the month.

Further Reading

-

You can view the full report by clicking here.