Food and Fuel Inflation
I’m Bob Larson. Fuel and food inflation continues to challenge consumers and producers, and farm groups are saying SOME of that is within the government's control.Inflation is the highest in more than thirty years, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the problem's no longer "transitory" and could worsen with the new COVID variant "omicron."
American Farm Bureau Economist Veronica Nigh says producers and consumers are dealing with a lot of factors outside their control …
NIGH … “Trucking rates, trucking availability, you look at increased wage rates and short supply-lines, where folks are having to wait for a long amount of time to fulfill orders—all of that adds up.”
So, food is not getting any cheaper …
NIGH … “92-percent or so, of what we’re spending at the grocery store on food is related to costs outside of farm production.”
Fuel prices, at a seven-year high, are a big part of that—also raising farming costs—something Renewable Fuels Association chief Geoff Cooper argues the government can address …
COOPER … “The fastest and most efficient way to reduce gas prices for consumers is to allow more ethanol into the blend…and right now, we’re sort of stuck at the ten percent level.”
But the EPA is again delaying annual biofuel blending requirements, leaving oil refiners and ethanol, corn and soybean producers, with continued market and price uncertainty.