Farm Progress America, October 18, 2023

Mike Pearson tells us how inflation may be getting better.

Food price inflation is a hot topic for anyone buying food.

The 20-year average for inflation is 1.7 percent annual. In 2021, it hit 1.9 percent and hit hard at 8.9 percent in 2022. The prices for red meat, eggs and bread spiked that year but the price hikes should be slowing.

The October Consumer Price Index cooled from double digits this year to 3.7 percent.

Now, restaurants are showing a 6 percent rate of inflation and grocery prices hit 2.4 percent.

The one bright side is cereals and bakery in the report which showed a slight decrease of .40 percent in September. It was the first dip since June 2021.

However, the cereals and bakery shows a 5 percent increase in 2023 and half of one percent for beef and eggs. Pork showed 1.6 percent increase but that is being attributed to California's passage of Prop 12.

The 3.7 percent inflation for food prices is about the same as other costs consumers are facing since the inflation woes hit pocketbooks.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness .