Data Training Webinar: Price Spreads from Farm to Consumer & Meat Price Spreads

How much of what consumers spend on food at retail stores goes to farmers and ranchers?

USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) estimates the share of retail food prices that farmers receive for a variety of products including beef, pork, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, sugar, and bread. The ERS Meat Price Spreads and Prices Spreads from Farm to Consumer data products compare prices consumers paid for foods with prices received by farmers and ranchers for their commodities. For instance, farmers received more of the price consumers paid at the store for beef (41 percent) than for pork (26 percent) in May 2022. Farmers generally receive a larger share of the retail price for less-processed products such as whole milk and white flour, than for more-processed foods, such as Cheddar cheese and bread.

In this webinar, ERS Economist Hayden Stewart and Cross Commodity Analyst Bill Hahn provided an overview of the data available from the price spreads products, highlighted its uses, and demonstrated how to find the data on the ERS website.

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