Kentucky’s retail food prices increase slightly, end year at all-time high
Posted on Jan 20, 2014Today’s Marketbasket Survey total also reflects a 3.9 percent increase over the average price reported in the fourth quarter of 2012. This increase fits precisely within the anticipated three to four percent food price growth that American Farm Bureau Federation economists forecast at the beginning of 2013, and is just slightly higher than the average rate of inflation over the past 10 years.
Five years ago the average cost of the same 40 surveyed grocery items was $111.63, or 7.6% less than what these items cost on average today.In further comparison to national food price trends, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) data revealed that food-at-home prices remained steady in the last reported month (December 2013). Overall, the CPI data shows that national prices for food-at-home increased by an overall total of 0.4 percent over the past 12 months.
When coupled with the KFB Marketbasket Survey’s recent results, the year-end CPI data appears to support the notion that Kentucky trended ahead of national food-at-home pricing, but it more accurately displays a timeframe where regional prices caught up to national levels. At the end of 2012, the KFB Marketbasket Survey results indicated that prices fell by an average of 1.1 percent on the year while CPI data revealed national price averages climbed by 1.3 percent during the same timeframe. The 3.9 percent overall increase in food prices seen in the Marketbasket Survey results during 2013 has the Commonwealth’s prices now more closely aligned with national trends.
Marketbasket Survey specifics: Of the six food groups recorded in the most recent survey – beef, pork, poultry, dairy, grains, and fruits and vegetables – the beef category showed the largest total increase with an average price jump of 9.7 percent (+$3.04). The grains category made the greatest decrease in average price at -8.4 percent (-$1.25), and dairy registered no change in overall average price from the previous quarter. Rib-eye steak had the greatest single-item increase with an average price jump of $1.86 per pound, while Idaho potatoes was the item reported with the greatest decrease in price, dropping an average of $0.88 per ten-pound bag. Overall, 19 of the 40 items in this survey experienced increases in average price, 20 decreased, and one went unchanged (a gallon of 2% milk).
ITEM | SEP 2013 | DEC 2013 | PRICE INCREASE |
Rib-Eye Steak | $9.37/lb. | $11.23/lb. | +$1.86/lb. +19.9% |
T-Bone Steak | $9.83/lb. | $10.67/lb. | +$0.84/lb. +8.5% |
Pork Spare Ribs | $2.58/lb. | $3.18/lb. | +$0.60/lb. +23.3% |
Yet while more food is now being produced on less land, the farmer’s share of the retail food dollar in America is down. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Dollar Series, a farmer earns less than 16 cents per dollar spent on food, down significantly from the 31 cents earned in 1980.
Survey Origins: Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation has conducted its regional Marketbasket Survey over the past four decades as a tool to reflect local retail food pricing trends and their relationship to what farmers receive for their raw commodities. Cities reporting on the Kentucky Farm Bureau Marketbasket Survey for the fourth quarter of 2013 include: Alexandria, Ashland, Bardstown, Bowling Green, Brandenburg, Brownsville, Eddyville, Elkton, Flatwoods, Glasgow, Hartford, Hillview, Hopkinsville, Irvine, Lewisburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Mayfield, Munfordville, Nancy, Salyersville, Scottsville, Stanford and Walton.
Tagged Post Topics Include: Alexandria, Ashland, Bardstown, Beef, Bowling Green, Bradenburg, Brownsville, Consumer Price Index, Dairy, Eddyville, Elkton, Flatwoods, Food Dollar Series, Fruits, Glasgow, Grains, grocery, Hartford, Hillview, Irvine, KFB, Lewisburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Marketbasket Survey, Mayfield, Munfordville, Nancy, Pork, Poultry, Prices, Salyersville, Scottsville, Stanford, USDA, Vegetables, Walton
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