Retail food prices

California has led the way in developing cutting edge agricultural technologies, enabling farms to do more with fewer, safer, and more efficient workers, but it’s also creating a challenge.

U.S. beef exports to East Asia in 2022 are again on record pace after a record year in 2021. A new USDA report shows retail food prices increased 8.9% in the first seven months of 2022.

The cost of growing crops could outpace revenue for many farmers this year, making it more difficult to break even despite rising commodity prices and increasing domestic and global demand.

Retail food prices have increased 1.6% in the first six months of 2021, less than the same period last year of 2.9% and equal to the historical average from 2000 to 2019.