Farm Bureau Survey Shows Increase In Grocery Store Prices

Last updated on Friday, October 2, 2015

(UNDATED) - Higher retail prices for several foods - particularly eggs - resulted in an increase in Indiana Farm Bureau’s fall market basket survey.

The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items was $53.32, up 92 cents from last spring's survey and $2.14 compared to the survey from this time last year.

Egg prices rose precipitously due to the H5 avian influenza virus, which affected 223 farms in 16 states with a loss of 48 million birds, according to the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.

This time last year, a dozen large eggs sold for $1.86. Six months ago, the price was $2.10. But the average price on the September survey was $3.08 per dozen, noted INFB Second Vice President Isabella Chism. Chism chairs the Women's Leadership Committee, which sponsors the market basket survey.

"As expected we saw higher egg prices because we lost so much production earlier this year due to the avian influenza situation in Iowa, Minnesota and some other Midwestern states," said John Anderson, deputy chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Some of the items did decrease in price on the Indiana survey.

"Energy prices, which affect everything in the market basket, have been quite a bit lower compared to a year ago. Processing, packaging, transportation and retail operations are all fairly energy-intensive," Anderson said.

Items showing price increases from last spring were:

Eggs, up 98 cents to $3.08 per dozen.
Shredded cheddar cheese, up 72 cents to $4.81 per pound.
Bagged salad, up 47 cents to $2.42 per 1-pound bag.
Boneless chicken breasts, up 32 cents to $3.37 per pound.
Sirloin tip roast, up 30 cents to $5.87 per pound.
Bacon, up 25 cents to $4.21 per pound.
Ground chuck, up 10 cents to $4.56 per pound.
Potatoes, up 9 cents to $2.75 for a 5-pound bag.
Oat cereal, up 7 cents to $2.95 for a 9-ounce box.
Showing decreases were:
Sliced deli ham, down 73 cents to $5.61 per pound.
Vegetable oil, down 66 cents to $2.34 for a 32-ounce bottle.
Apples, down 37 cents to $1.50 per pound.
Flour, down 28 cents to $2.18 for a 5-pound bag.
Orange juice, down 15 cents to $3.52 per half-gallon.
Whole milk, down 14 cents to $2.67 per gallon.
White bread, down 5 cents to $1.48 per 20-ounce loaf.

As retail grocery prices have increased gradually over time, the share of the average food dollar that America's farm and ranch families receive has dropped.

"Through the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures for food eaten at home and away from home, on average. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now about 16 percent, according to the Agriculture Department's revised Food Dollar Series," Anderson said.

Using the "food at home and away from home" percentage across-the-board, the farmer's share of this $53.32 market basket would be $8.53. Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food, the lowest average of any country in the world.

The INFB survey is part of a nationwide survey compiled by the American Farm Bureau Federation from data supplied by state Farm Bureaus. AFBF, the nation's largest general farm organization, began conducting informal quarterly surveys of retail food price trends in 1989. The series includes a spring, summer cookout and fall survey as well as a Thanksgiving survey. A total of 69 shoppers (15 of them from Indiana) in 24 states participated in the latest survey, conducted in September.

The survey released by the American Farm Bureau showed a decrease of just 12 cents from the previous survey. The total cost of the 16 food items on the national survey was $54.14.

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