Food prices, yields herald good news on the local front
MONROE - Green County residents can give thanks for agriculture in a couple of ways this fall. Corn and soybean harvests were bountiful, with yields higher than normal, and food prices overall have not risen in Wisconsin as much as the national average.
"We can be thankful here the ag sector helps the local economy," said Mark Mayer, Green County's agriculture agent with the University of Wisconsin Extension. "The original dollar the farmer gets, gets spent five or six times in the local economy."
Corn harvest stands at about 90 percent completed, with yields ranging from about 120 to 220 bushels per acre. Yields are running above the five-year average of 165 bushels per acre.
Moisture content has been about 15 percent, ranging from upper teens to low 20s.
"Dry down has been good," Mayer added.
Two years ago, an early frost caught the corn crop still not fully matured, and moisture content was about 30 percent in December, he noted.
Drier corn in the field means less drying costs for at the local elevators, and cash prices for corn right out of the fields are now hovering in the high $5.60s.
The soybean harvest is finished. This year, the average yield is about 55 to 65 bushels per acre, well above the five-year average of 45 bushels per acre.
"We've had a good harvest in this area," Mayer said. "You can go two hours in any direction, and the yields are lower."
Farmers are getting relatively good prices for livestock, milk and turkeys also this year, Mayer said.
"Everything is high," he said. "But we can be thankful for the good harvest, and good prices. Enjoy the good times while we got them. Out west, like in Oklahoma and Texas, they have a drought."
Consumer prices
A traditional holiday dinner served tomorrow will cost 10.8 percent more than it did a year ago, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
The organization's annual survey of Thanksgiving food items, such as turkey, stuffing, cranberry and pumpkin pie, showed the average price of dinner for a family of 10 is $50.17, $4.91 higher than 2010.
"That's cheap compared to the other countries around the world," Mayer said.
The USDA says Americans will spend approximately 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food this year, the lowest average in the world.
Farmers get about $8.03 from every 10-person dinner, according to the Farm Bureau.
In the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures in grocery stores and restaurants. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now about 16 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The rest of the cost comes from transportation, processing and marketing, said Mayer.
"But we can be thankful we don't have to go out and hunt our own turkey, or grow our own pumpkin and scrape it out to make a pie," he added.
Wisconsin's Thanksgiving dinner costs almost $1 more than the national average for a family of 10, estimated at $49.20. But the national average cost jumped 13 percent, a $5.73 price increase, from last year's average of $43.47.
Wisconsin gets a price break on a few items. A 12-pack of rolls will cost $1.98 in Wisconsin, for example, while the national average is $2.30. A half-pint of cream that costs $1.96 nationwide is $1.60 in Wisconsin. Whole milk, pumpkin pie mix, pie shells, green peas and carrots and celery for a relish tray are also more affordable in Wisconsin than the national averages.
Wisconsin is a producer of many items in the Thanksgiving fare, including turkeys, cranberries and potatoes, but the home state price of some of these items has risen more than the national average. Fresh cranberries are 15 cents higher at $2.63, and cube stuffing is also 15 cents more at $3.03.
Most notably, the Thanksgiving turkey will be $1.63 higher in Wisconsin ($23.20 for a 16-pound bird) than the national average, and $3.04 higher than last year's average Wisconsin price.
U.S. turkey production is up this year, but exports and domestic demand also jumped, according to Casey Langan, Wisconsin Farm Bureau public relations executive director.
Americans will consume nearly 46 million turkeys this Thanksgiving.
Mexico buys about 60 percent of its turkeys from the U.S. annually, making it the leading foreign customer. Ranked second is China, where punitive tariffs on U.S. chicken meat will continue to mean higher sales for U.S. turkey exporters.
"We are seeing reports of turkey exports increasing by as much as 20 percent this year," Langan said. "We are likely to export an eighth of our turkey production, which equates to 300,000 metric tons."
The cost of an all-organic Thanksgiving meal of the same basic food items will cost about $106.39, more than twice the amount of the non-organic purchase of the same items, according to a survey conducted by the Arizona Farm Bureau. The biggest ticket item was a 16-pound organic turkey at $63.84 or $3.99 per pound. Milk, pumpkin mix, and cubed bread stuffing were also significantly higher in price than the non-organic items.
MONROE - Green County residents can give thanks for agriculture in a couple of ways this fall. Corn and soybean harvests were bountiful, with yields higher than normal, and food prices overall have not risen in Wisconsin as much as the national average.
"We can be thankful here the ag sector helps the local economy," said Mark Mayer, Green County's agriculture agent with the University of Wisconsin Extension. "The original dollar the farmer gets, gets spent five or six times in the local economy."
Corn harvest stands at about 90 percent completed, with yields ranging from about 120 to 220 bushels per acre. Yields are running above the five-year average of 165 bushels per acre.
Moisture content has been about 15 percent, ranging from upper teens to low 20s.
"Dry down has been good," Mayer added.
Two years ago, an early frost caught the corn crop still not fully matured, and moisture content was about 30 percent in December, he noted.
Drier corn in the field means less drying costs for at the local elevators, and cash prices for corn right out of the fields are now hovering in the high $5.60s.
The soybean harvest is finished. This year, the average yield is about 55 to 65 bushels per acre, well above the five-year average of 45 bushels per acre.
"We've had a good harvest in this area," Mayer said. "You can go two hours in any direction, and the yields are lower."
Farmers are getting relatively good prices for livestock, milk and turkeys also this year, Mayer said.
"Everything is high," he said. "But we can be thankful for the good harvest, and good prices. Enjoy the good times while we got them. Out west, like in Oklahoma and Texas, they have a drought."
Consumer prices
A traditional holiday dinner served tomorrow will cost 10.8 percent more than it did a year ago, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
The organization's annual survey of Thanksgiving food items, such as turkey, stuffing, cranberry and pumpkin pie, showed the average price of dinner for a family of 10 is $50.17, $4.91 higher than 2010.
"That's cheap compared to the other countries around the world," Mayer said.
The USDA says Americans will spend approximately 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food this year, the lowest average in the world.
Farmers get about $8.03 from every 10-person dinner, according to the Farm Bureau.
In the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures in grocery stores and restaurants. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now about 16 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The rest of the cost comes from transportation, processing and marketing, said Mayer.
"But we can be thankful we don't have to go out and hunt our own turkey, or grow our own pumpkin and scrape it out to make a pie," he added.
Wisconsin's Thanksgiving dinner costs almost $1 more than the national average for a family of 10, estimated at $49.20. But the national average cost jumped 13 percent, a $5.73 price increase, from last year's average of $43.47.
Wisconsin gets a price break on a few items. A 12-pack of rolls will cost $1.98 in Wisconsin, for example, while the national average is $2.30. A half-pint of cream that costs $1.96 nationwide is $1.60 in Wisconsin. Whole milk, pumpkin pie mix, pie shells, green peas and carrots and celery for a relish tray are also more affordable in Wisconsin than the national averages.
Wisconsin is a producer of many items in the Thanksgiving fare, including turkeys, cranberries and potatoes, but the home state price of some of these items has risen more than the national average. Fresh cranberries are 15 cents higher at $2.63, and cube stuffing is also 15 cents more at $3.03.
Most notably, the Thanksgiving turkey will be $1.63 higher in Wisconsin ($23.20 for a 16-pound bird) than the national average, and $3.04 higher than last year's average Wisconsin price.
U.S. turkey production is up this year, but exports and domestic demand also jumped, according to Casey Langan, Wisconsin Farm Bureau public relations executive director.
Americans will consume nearly 46 million turkeys this Thanksgiving.
Mexico buys about 60 percent of its turkeys from the U.S. annually, making it the leading foreign customer. Ranked second is China, where punitive tariffs on U.S. chicken meat will continue to mean higher sales for U.S. turkey exporters.
"We are seeing reports of turkey exports increasing by as much as 20 percent this year," Langan said. "We are likely to export an eighth of our turkey production, which equates to 300,000 metric tons."
The cost of an all-organic Thanksgiving meal of the same basic food items will cost about $106.39, more than twice the amount of the non-organic purchase of the same items, according to a survey conducted by the Arizona Farm Bureau. The biggest ticket item was a 16-pound organic turkey at $63.84 or $3.99 per pound. Milk, pumpkin mix, and cubed bread stuffing were also significantly higher in price than the non-organic items.