According to BLS data, food inflation in 2020 was 3.4 percent over 2019. The general inflation rate measured by the consumer price index was 1.2 percent. Food inflation often runs ahead of the overall CPI and is more volatile than overall inflation, which is why the Federal Reserve doesn’t factor it in to interest rate decisions. However, based on commodity prices and economic recovery in 2021, we could be looking at another year of higher food inflation. There were a few interesting points in the BLS data. First, the food staples rose the most with COVID panic buying and supply disruptions impacting price. Pork, beef, chicken, eggs, and milk were all above the overall food inflation rate.
Interestingly, cheddar cheese was...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...
