Wisconsin Farm Bureau: Survey says — food prices remain stable

Contact: Casey Langan, Director of Public Relations, 608-828-5711

Sheri Sutton, Communications Coordinator, 608-828-5706

Wisconsin food prices slightly less than national average

MADISON – Retail food prices at the supermarket remained stable during the third quarter of 2010, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Marketbasket survey.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $45.13.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau recently trimmed its Marketbasket survey from 20 to 16 items in order to conduct direct comparisons with the American Farm Bureau Federation’s survey of the same 16 items. The national survey showed the same groceries cost just over a dollar more ($46.17) than Wisconsin’s average.

Prices in Wisconsin for 10 of the 16 items were lower than the national average: sliced deli ham, sirloin tip roast, bread, eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, bagged salad, orange juice, potatoes, apples and whole milk. The prices for five of the items were more expensive in Wisconsin than the national average: flour, toasted oat cereal, vegetable oil, chicken breasts and bacon. The average price of one pound of ground chuck ($2.91) was the same in both surveys.

“Overall, retail food prices have been relatively stable in 2010,” said American Farm Bureau Economist John Anderson. “Price data collected by our volunteer shoppers during the third quarter of the year shows that pattern is continuing to hold.”

Compared to one year ago, the overall cost of the national Marketbasket items fell by just 12 cents.

Tighter wholesale meat supplies due to smaller livestock herds and poultry flocks contributed to the modest retail price increases seen for some products, including chicken breasts and bacon.

The uneventfully stable prices of food are reflective of similarly stable prices of other goods throughout the U.S. economy. A big reason is that energy costs (a key component of food prices) were also relatively stable in the third quarter. Economists point out that oil prices have recently climbed as the value of the U.S. dollar has declined against other currencies. If this trend continues, economists say it could affect food and other retail product prices in 2010’s fourth quarter.

Over the last three decades retail grocery prices have gradually increased, while the share of the average dollar spent on food 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 $45.13 Marketbasket would be $8.57.

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 Marketbasket 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 16 basic food items in 18 communities across Wisconsin.

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The Marketbasket survey is an informal measure of prices at grocery stores in Wisconsin. The prices reported reflect variations in communities and retailers. The prices reported are not validated by any outside source.