Food Prices
Food Prices
US Food prices have been lower in 2019 than agriculture economists predicted at the start of the year.
Agriculture economists at the USDA had predicted that food prices at the grocery store would cost us 1 to 2 percent more than a year ago. But the first half of the year has not shown that to be the case
USDA food price economist Gianna Short says the new forecast has been trimmed a bit.
"We're expecting 2019 prices to increase between .5 and 1.5 percent.
This could be the 4th year in a row that food price inflation comes in below the 20 year average of nearly 2 percent.
She says we will pay more for most of the food we buy at the grocery store but there are some categories of foods that might drop in price.
"These include pork, other meats, eggs fats and oils and processed fruits and vegetables."
The food economist does say there's a chance that consumers could end up paying more for pork than they expected in the coming months. Short says recent hog production losses in China due to African Swine Fever are expected to put pressure on prices in the second half of the year. But not enough to push the average pork prices higher than a year ago. They are still expecting prices to decrease for pork but only between 1 and 2 percent compared to the reduced 3 to 4 percent a year ago.
China is the world's leading consumer of pork as well as the largest producer. African Swine Fever could wipe out about a third of the country's pork so it is looking to import the meat putting upward pressure on prices world wide.
