News

Food prices adjusted for 2015

Food price forecasts for 2015 have been adjusted by the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS)– in the event crop weather and the feed grain outlook change.

The ERS predicts that grocery store prices (food-at-home) will see normal to slightly-lower-than-average food price inflation, increasing 2-to-3 percent this year. It says beef and veal prices “will likely continue to experience the effects of the Texas/Oklahoma drought, as farmers’ decisions on calving and herd sizes are felt down the line due to the 6- to 18-month production process.”

Also, it says, the effects of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) on the hog industry will be transmitted to meat prices in the immediate future. That forecast is based on an assumption of normal weather conditions.

And the ongoing drought in California, the report says, “could have large and lasting effects on fruit, vegetable, dairy, and egg prices.”

But, if oil prices keep falling or remain low in 2015, resulting decreases in production and transportation costs “may be passed on to the retail level” which could help offset some of those increases.