The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) published the March “Cold Storage” report this week. Demand has been critical as meat supplies have been abundant, and the latest data suggest that demand for meat is steady.

Total supplies of beef, pork, chicken and turkey in freezers on Feb. 29 were 2.268 billion lb., a 1.6% increase from last year.

Source: Daily Livestock Report

Total red meat supplies in freezers were 3% lower than the previous month and 5% lower than last year. Total pounds of beef in freezers were down 5% from the previous month and down slightly from last year. Frozen pork supplies, on the other hand, were up slightly from the previous month but were still 8% below last year. Pork bellies were up 1% from last month but were 10% below last year.

Total frozen poultry supplies on Feb. 29 were 3% higher than the previous month and 10% than last year. Total stocks of chicken decreased 2% from the previous month but were 11% higher than last year. Total pounds of turkey in freezers increased 17% from last month and 5% from Feb. 28, 2015.

“Meat protein production continues to increase, and the fact that inventories have not increased significantly implies that product is moving and demand is generally good both in domestic and export channels,” Len Steiner and Steve Meyer said in the “Daily Livestock Report." “Our opinion is that markets will view the survey as supportive of beef and pork prices going into the spring. As for chicken, there was more of the same, and we think it was largely neutral.”

Total natural cheese stocks in refrigerated warehouses on Feb. 29 increased slightly from the previous month and rose 11% from Feb. 28, 2015. Butter stocks increased 23% from last month and 32% from a year ago.