Higher grocery prices do not necessarily translate into higher earnings for farmers, according to American Farm Bureau Federation communications vice president Terry Moore.
Moore said farmers receive a small portion of consumer food spending because their products move through a supply chain that includes processing, packaging, transportation and marketing.
Although farmers are the first link in that chain, each additional step accounts for part of the final food price. Moore cited USDA analysis showing the farm share amounts to about 5.8 cents of each industry food dollar.
Farmers may be concerned that shoppers assume higher grocery bills mean agricultural producers are getting rich. However, Moore said consumer surveys suggest shoppers recognize that other factors influence food prices.
“Consumers deserve more credit than that,” Moore said.
She pointed to a June survey in which consumers identified tariffs and large corporations as the leading factors they blamed for higher food prices.
Moore said strengthening the agricultural economy will require several approaches, including encouraging purchases of American products, increasing biofuel production and developing additional overseas markets.
Expanding existing export markets and opening new ones could help increase demand for agricultural products, she said. Meanwhile, stabilizing farmers’ supply costs would make it easier for producers to plan.
Ideally, those costs would decline, Moore said, but greater predictability would also help farmers facing financial pressure.
Moore also called for completion of a farm bill as part of the broader effort to support the agricultural economy.
Additional information about pressures facing farmers and consumer attitudes is available through the Farm Bureau’s Intel page at fb.org.