Pork and Beef Exports Up Slightly and Food Price Index Down
**August U.S. pork exports topped year-ago totals for the first time this year.
And, USDA data compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation shows BEEF exports were slightly above last August’s large volumes, again surpassing $1 billion in value.
Pork exports reached 226,300 metric tons, the largest since last November, while the value rose 4%.
Beef exports topped 133,800 metric tons, up 1% from last year and the second-largest volume on record.
**The United Nations’ Food and Ag Organization says the Food Price Index averaged 136.3 points in September, 1.1% below August and the sixth-straight monthly decline.
The fall was driven by a sharp drop in the international prices of vegetable oils and moderate decreases in sugar, meat, and dairy.
Together, that more than offset a rebound in the cereal price index, which averaged 147.8 points in September, 1.5% higher than August.
**The largest barge operator in the U.S. is telling customers it won’t be able to make good on deliveries due to the shrinking Mississippi River.
Bloomberg says, in a letter, Ingram Barge Company told customers they couldn’t deliver because of the “near-historic” low water levels.
The Mississippi is the top way to get American grains exported, but with grain harvest in progress, the logjam comes at the worst time.