WASHINGTON — For every dollar Americans spend on their Thanksgiving dinner this year, farmers and ranchers will earn approximately 11.9 cents, according to National Farmers Union. This marks a slight decline from 2019, when farmers claimed 12.15 cents of the Thanksgiving food dollar.
Though farmers increasingly small share of food expenditures could be blamed on dropping commodity prices in years past, that isn’t the case this Thanksgiving; after cratering during the pandemic, prices for many agricultural products have mostly recovered. Instead, the shift can be attributed to higher grocery bills.
In the last 12 months, the food prices have risen nearly 4%, far outpacing the 1.4% rate of overall inflation. The rise in food prices couldn’t come at a worse time for American families, who are experiencing elevated rates of unemployment and food insecurity as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
Ordinarily, Thanksgiving is a time to gather with our loved ones and enjoy a big meal, said organization president Rob Larew. But for many Americans, the typical, food-filled get-together won’t be possible, and not just because of public health concerns.
Food insecurity
With millions out of work and no additional government support in sight, the cost of traditional holiday foods may simply be out of reach for some families. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the organization has been pushing legislators to expand the nutrition safety net in order to offset an abrupt rise in food insecurity.
Congress took some steps to do so with the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act in March, which added $15.5 billion to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in order to accommodate more participants and facilitated the redistribution of surplus food from farmers to food banks.
In the subsequent eight months, however, most of the CARES Act funding has been spent, and there has been little progress towards securing additional support for nutrition assistance programs. As cases continue to rise across the country and safety measures are put in place, it’s clear that we have a long ways to go with economic recovery, said Larew.
Price increases
Even though consumers are paying 4% more for food, almost none of that is being passed on to farmers and ranchers. Instead, it’s being captured by the processors, packers, distributors and retailers in between.
Nowhere has this been more evident than the meat sector; retail beef prices have increased more than 10% over the last 12 months, but ranchers are earning essentially the same amount for cattle as they were a year ago. The disparity is largely due to the overwhelming market power held by the largest beef packers, Larew indicated.
Four corporations have taken over 85% of beef slaughtering and packing in the United States. As a result, those companies are able to manipulate farmer and consumer prices to their advantage.
The Farmers Share is based on calculations derived from the monthly Agriculture Prices report produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and price points of common grocery food items at Safeway supermarket.
The farmer’s share of retail turkey sales is reported by the Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias, as national data on farm prices for turkey does not reflect the amount turkey growers receive.
