Food Prices Rise In Fourth Quarter
PARK RIDGE, 111. Following lower than other cost of living in
two quarters of significant drops, creases.
retail prices for food at the super- “Yes, food prices rose in the
market rose in the fourth quarter, fourth quarter, but 1 think the key
according to the latest American * s that the average Js still below
Farm Bureau Federation Market- rst quarter levels, _ sa '
h»«ket Snrvpv Senior Economist John Skorburg.
basket Survey. “Essentially that means food prices
The informal survey on the total have rema i ned flat to lower over
cost of 16 basic grocery items the four quarters of 2002.”
showed an increase of 71 cents Of the 16 items surveyed, 11 in
from this year’s third quarter sur- creased, three decreased and two
vey. were unchanged in average price
The $35.69 average paid by vol
unteer shoppers for the 16 items,
although higher than the second
and third quarter averages, is actu
ally down 33 cents from the first
quarter survey average of $36.02.
While survey averages have fluctu
ated in 2002, food remains afforda
ble overall. Since its inception in
1989, the AFBF Marketbasket Sur
vey average has increased at a rate
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compared to the 2002 third quarter
survey.
Sirloin tip roast showed the larg
est increase, up 27 cents to $3.12
per pound, followed closely by com
oil, up 21 cents to $2.39 per
32-ounce bottle. After falling 21
cents per pound in the third quar
ter, cheddar cheese rose 21 cents,
back to $3.45 per pound.
Other items that increased in
price included:
ilete. We'll build you any
• Diamond flooring
• Pull out panel tailgates
• Any size grain chute
• Oat cereal, up 15 cents to
$3.00 per 10-ounce box
• Bacon, up 14 cents to $2.88
per pound
• Whole fryers, up 12 cents to
$1.05 per pound
• Vegetable oil, up 11 cents to
$2.20 per 32-ounce bottle
• Eggs, up 7 cents to $1.12 per
dozen
• Mayonnaise, up 6 cents to
$3.00 per 32-ounce jar
• Ground chuck, up 6 cents to
$2.09 per pound
• Whole milk, up 6 cents to
$2.81 per gallon.
After being the largest gainer in
price in the third quarter, russet
potatoes plummeted 61 cents in the
fourth quarter to $2.02 per
5-pound bag.
Two other items marked de
creases in average price including
all-purpose flour, down 10 cents to
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$1.35 per 5-pound bag; and pork eery store average prices over time,
chops, down 4 cents to $3 per the share of the average food dollar
pound. received by America’s farm and
The remaining two items, red ranch families has actually
delicious apples at 99 cents per dropped. According to the most re
pound and white bread at $1.22 cent Agriculture Department sta
per 20-ounce loaf, experienced no tistics, America’s farmers and
change from the third-quarter sur- ranchers receive merely 19 cents
vey results. out of every dollar spent for food,
Despite steady increases in gro- down from 31 cents in 1980.
USD A Increases Fees For Egg,
Poultry, And Rabbit Grading
WASHINGTON, D.C. The regular tour of duty at a plant.
USDA is increasing fees for cer- will rise from the current $31.5?
tain grading services for eggs, to $33.36. In addition, the basic
poultry, and rabbits, effective hourly rate for fee service, work
j an j on an intermittent, as-needed
The increase will affect most baS ' S ’ will rise from the currem
Ihe increase will attect most $54 4010 $57.68 f or regular hours
processors who request egg, pool- and from $62 76 t 0 6 566-64 fo ,
try, and rabbit grading services. weekend and holiday work .
The basic hourly rate for resident Additionally, for plants using
service, work of a grader with a
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 28, 2002-A4l
resident service, the ad
ministrative fee for
USDA supervision and
for other overhead ex
penses will increase
from 4.6 cents to 4.8
cents per case of shell
eggs and from .036 cent'-
to .037 cents per pound
of poultry handled. Foi
poultry and eggs, th«
minimum administra
tive fee will rise fron
s2so to $260 pc’ - month
ly billing period, and th
maximum fee will rise
from $2,650 to $2,675
The minimum adminis
trative fee for grading
rabbits will remain un
changed at $260 per
monthly billing period.
These grading serv
ices are made available
upon request and paid
for by the users. Current
fees have been in effect
since Jan. 1, 2002.
The grading fee in
creases were published
in the Federal Register
on Dec. 26 and may be
viewed electronically at
http://
www.ams.usda.gov/
poultry/regulations.
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