Food Prices Outpace General Inflation
It’s time for your Southeast Regional Ag News. On the Ag Information Network, I’m Haylie Shipp.
It’s not perception. It’s reality. Food prices are not only continuing to climb, but they are also outpacing general inflation.
While the latter slowed in December to 6.5%, USDA Economist Matt MacLachlan says food prices rose nearly 10.5% in December…
“We do expect food prices to continue to increase into 2023. However, we expect that the rate of this increase will lie well below the very rapid food price increases we saw in 2022.”
Several factors are to blame. The war in Ukraine continues to impact the prices of fertilizers and animal feeds, avian flu and feed costs are limiting egg supplies, driving up those prices…and extreme weather continues to pressure other food prices.
There is some reprieve to consumers with beef prices showing some pull back. But the item that seems to be top on everyone’s list of “what in the world?”, egg prices surged by nearly 60 percent in December to an average of $4.25 – more than double the year before – for a carton of Grade A large eggs.
