Thread: Food Prices Rise 16 Percent During 2008

Food Prices Rise 16 Percent During 2008

Thursday, July 31, 2008 4:41 PM

ST. LOUIS -- The cost of crops and livestock has risen 16 percent this year compared to last year, driven higher by rising costs for feedstock and fuel, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday.

Grains like corn and soybeans are trading at all-time highs this month, while wheat is down from historic highs in March but still up steeply from last year.

Grain prices were up 42 percent for the year overall.

Prices for farm products rose 1.9 percent in June alone, according to the report. Grain staples including wheat and soybeans rose 1.6 percent during June, while the price of livestock rose less than 1 percent.

The annual report measures the price that farmers receive for their goods, not the ultimate price that consumers pay for food. Crops and livestock costs amount to a fraction of the final cost of food, after transportation, packaging and marketing costs are also factored in.

A number of factors are driving up the cost of grains and meat, including the increasing use of crops for biofuels, and the higher cost farmers are paying for gasoline and fertilizer, said USDA statistician Daryl Brinkman.

http://moneynews.newsmax.com/markets/fo ... 17997.html

Well, all that price rise should be ameliorated by cheap illegal labor that are doing those jobs that Americans used to do.

And do thing the prices will ever come down.

Are the Senate and Congress getting their pay raise this year?