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Contact: Casey Langan, Director of Public Relations, 608-828-5711
Farm Bureau’s Food Price Survey Shows Little Change Since 2009
MADISON – ‘Stable’ is the best way to describe food prices according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s ‘Market Basket’ survey of 20 basic food items. Half way through 2010, overall food prices in Wisconsin are stable compared to both the first quarter of 2010 and the same time last year.
The Farm Bureau’s informal survey shows the average price for those 20 items that can be used to prepare a meal was $53.46, up 38 cents or less than one percent from the first quarter of 2010. A year ago those same groceries averaged $53.38, just 8 cents less than this year.
Sliced bacon, whole chicken, chicken breast and potatoes increased the most in dollar value from quarter-to-quarter.
Among those items, sliced bacon saw the biggest percentage increase, jumping over 13 percent as the price increased 56 cents from $4.21 to $4.77. The price of a whole chicken increased 19 cents per pound from $1.51 to $1.70 per pound, marking an over 12 percent hike. Potatoes and chicken breast both saw identical percentage increases in price (6.45 percent). Potatoes were up 18 cents, while chicken breast increased 19 cents.
Eggs, tomatoes and corn oil were the items that decreased the most in dollar value since the first quarter of 2010.
Tomatoes rang up at $1.81 per pound, down from $2.09 earlier in the year, marking a decline of over 13 percent. Corn oil also saw a modest 7 percent reduction, down from $3.60 to $3.34. The biggest fall in price was a dozen eggs which fell from $1.43 to 1.04, posting a decline in price of over 27 percent.
Twelve of the survey’s 20 items saw their prices change by less than 3 percent since the first quarter survey. The average prices of a loaf of wheat bread and quart of orange juice did not change at all.
Compared to a year ago, the survey shows greater fluctuations in price per individual item, yet their overall cost was relatively unchanged.
Sirloin tip roast, whole milk and tomatoes all have seen their prices increase by over 10 percent since the past year. Butter, potatoes and corn oil prices have all decreased by over 10 percent. Only two of the survey’s 20 items have changed by less than 3 percent over the past year (orange juice and pork chops).
As retail grocery prices have gradually increased, the share of the average food dollar that farm families receive has dropped. In the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures in grocery stores and restaurants. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now just 19 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Using that percentage across-the-board, the farmer’s share of this quarter’s $53.46 market basket would be $10.16.
According to the USDA, Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food, the lowest average of any country in the world.
The Market Basket is a quarterly look at the trends in food prices in Wisconsin in relation to changing farm prices, weather and wholesale and retail food marketing. Members of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau collect price samples of 20 basic food items in 26 communities.
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