Content
The monthly Cold Storage reports include inventory statistics for approximately 100 food items held in public, private, and semi-private refrigerated warehouses. USDA agencies such as the World Agricultural Outlook Board, Economic Research Service, and Agricultural Marketing Service use information from the Cold Storage report in setting and administering government commodity programs and in supply and demand analysis. Included in the report are stocks of pork bellies, frozen orange juice concentrate, butter, and cheese which are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Uses
The industry uses the data to gauge current supplies of products available to consumers. For some commodities, the estimates are factored into public price discovery. Economists and other analysts use the data to monitor the health of the industry and to compute the industry’s contribution to the agricultural sector. Data frequently supplement production, import, and export data in balance sheets. The stocks figures in the Cold Storage reports are used by food processors, food brokers, and farmers in making production, marketing, and pricing decisions. The availability of this data results in the production and marketing of products in a more efficient and orderly fashion, which in turn helps to stabilize prices. The warehouse industry uses the published data to learn what portion of total food storage is in public space and the occupancy level of cooler and freezer rooms. The stocks numbers are also used by industry analysts, transportation companies, insurance adjustors, banks, and other lending institutions as they service the refrigerated warehouse and food service industries. The monthly Cold Storage report is placed in a Civil Defense file to be available as part of the country’s preparedness file in case of national emergency.
History
Providing information on national supplies of food in refrigerated storage facilities has been the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture since 1914. This service is the outcome of an investigation made by the Department in 1911, in response to allegations that food warehouses were being used by food speculators to “corner the market” and drive up prices paid by consumers. The Secretary recommended that the public should know the amounts of foods in warehouses and that the Department should issue periodic reports on a pre-announced day and time.
Statistical Methodology
Survey Procedures: Questionnaires are mailed about the 24th of each month to all operators on the list of approximately 800 public and private cold storage warehouses. In addition, data are obtained from special surveys and other sources. All survey data represent stocks as of the end of the month. Data are collected from warehouses artificially cooled to a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and whose food products are normally stored for 30 days or more. All food items in these facilities are reported regardless of the number of days stored at the time of the report. Also included are specialized storage facilities meeting the 30 day requirement, such as fruit houses, dairy manufacturing plants, frozen fruit, fruit juice, vegetable processors, and poultry and meat packing plants. Excluded are stocks in space maintained by wholesalers, jobbers, distributors, chain stores, locker plants containing individual lockers, meat packer branch houses, and frozen food processors whose entire inventories are turned over more than once a month. All commodities reported on the cold storage report are regardless of ownership or origin. NASS does not differentiate between commodities owned by manufacturer, producer, wholesaler, retailer, government owned, or domestically produced vs. imported.
Estimating Procedures: Data for reporting firms are added to estimates for non-reporting firms to obtain regional and National totals. Estimates for non-reporting firms are obtained by multiplying the previous month’s figure by a percent change from the previous month. The percent change is calculated for each item from totals of the current and previous month summed from firms that reported both months.
Revision Policy: Data are revised the following month based on late reports or corrected data. Final figures are published in the annual summary in February of the following year.
Reliability: Reports are received from approximately 660 firms each month which represent about 80 percent of the total capacity. Firms that are not on the list or firms who have never reported are not represented in the data. Plants storing butter or cheese are required under Federal law as defined in Public Laws 106-532 and 107-171 to complete the monthly Cold Storage report. Monthly data can vary due to different firms reporting month to month. Survey data are also subject to non-sampling errors such as omissions and mistakes in reporting and in processing the data. While these errors cannot be measured directly, they are minimized by carefully reviewing all reported data for consistency and reasonableness.
Legal Foundation
General authority for these data collection activities is granted under U.S. Code Title 7, Section 2204. This statute specifies that “The Secretary of Agriculture shall procure and preserve all information concerning agriculture which he can obtain … by the collection of statistics … and shall distribute them among agriculturists.” For those facilities, which store butter or cheese, an accurate response to this monthly inquiry is mandatory under Public Law No. 106-532 and 107-171.
References
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Cold_Storage/index.php