USDA’s latest food price forecast has a little good news for shoppers. Gary Crawford has more coming on up This Land of Ours.
Analysts at the Agriculture Department are projecting that food at the grocery store this year will likely cost us more than last year, but only about 1% more.
“And that’s compared to a 5% increase in prices that we saw for groceries in 2023.” USDA economist Megan Schweitzer told us even though we are only a bit more than halfway through this year – “I don’t expect too much change in the forecast through the remainder of the year. We’ve sort of narrowed in on this right around 1% predicted change in prices. It’s been the same for the past two months.”
And while overall grocery prices are expected to. Size some food categories will cost less than last year’s fresh fruit, almost 1% less.
“And then a few other categories where we’re predicting price declines in 2024. Fish and seafood by point-eight percent. Eggs by point-three percent,” Schweitzer said.
Milk and dairy by almost half a percent.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.