Local residents are feeling the pinch in their wallets when they go grocery shopping.
The third quarter Marketbasket Survey done by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau shows food prices in Shawano have increased in dollars over the last 12 months, while the state total has increased by cents.
The total for 16 select items in Shawano was $53.75 for the three-month period ending Sept. 30, according to the survey. At the same time last year, customers were paying $48.36 for those items.
The local cost is higher than both the state and national averages. The state average is $50.18, up from $59.60 a year ago.
Customers nationwide, on average, pay $51.54 for the same items.
Prices were lower in Shawano than the rest of the state on only four of the 16 items the Farm Bureau regularly checks. The biggest savings came from sliced deli ham, where the cost was $3.49 per pound in Shawano and $4.93 in the state.
The other items that Shawano shoppers paid less for were orange juice ($2.99 per half-gallon; $3.34 state), Cheerios ($1.98 per 14-ounce box, $2.71) and bacon ($4.19 per pound, $4.65).
The price of orange juice decreased the most, from $4.22 to $2.99 in the last 12 months. Cereal dropped from $3.49 to $1.98.
The lion’s share of the increase locally can be attributed to potatoes and cheese.
Shawano residents paid significantly more for potatoes and cheese, the survey shows. A 5-pound bag cost $2.52 across the state in the third quarter, but local residents paid $3.89. Cheese cost $6 a pound locally, while the state average is $4.30.
In 2012, the third quarter survey showed Shawano residents paid $2.24 per pound for cheese. The price of a 5-pound bag of potatoes was $1.59 in September 2012.
The increase in state prices was attributed to potatoes. The 5-pound bag was $1.92 in September 2012 before dropping to $1.77 in March 2013, but prices jumped to $2.52 last month.
“Last year’s large potato crop lowered prices that continued through last spring. However, this year’s potato crop was smaller which temporarily increased prices over the summer,” WFB spokeswoman Amy Manske said. “When supplies are tight, prices go up. The September survey captured a price spike that has already moderated.”
The state increase is less than WFB officials were predicting at this time last year. The Farm Bureau predicted that the drought would drive 2013 prices statewide up in a similar fashion to what Shawano experienced, but that never materialized.
“We don’t really have specifics for that. We expected it to take a larger toll, but I think, if anything, it shows how stable we are in agriculture,” Manske said. “No matter what the weather, we do what we can to get quality crops off and make sure food keeps being produced.”
Food prices stayed relatively stable for the Shawano School District. Food service director Sarah Moesch said Friday that her company, Taher, works with Reinhart Foods in Shawano, and price fluctuations are minimal.
“It doesn’t really stop me from purchasing certain items,” Moesch said.
Farm Bureau officials have previously said that anomalous price quotes are not uncommon, as volunteer surveyors sometimes log sale prices.
Jamie Patton, Shawano County’s University of Wisconsin-Extension agriculture agent, said local farmers had a really good production season, and that is helping to offset some food prices at the grocery store.
“As we’re now harvesting corn and soybeans and some of our forages, we’re kind of amazed at some of the yield we’re seeing around,” Patton said. “We’re having quite a bumper crop of fruit production, and our vegetable production was quite high, as well.”
Agriculture experts are keeping their eye on the early winter blast that hit South Dakota and several other states in the West, Patton said. Thousands of animals died during the blizzard, which could impact meat prices in the fourth quarter and into 2014, she said.
The survey is a quarterly look at the trends in food pricing in Wisconsin in relation to changing farm prices, weather and wholesale and retail food marketing. Members of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau collected price samples of 16 basic food items in 31 communities across Wisconsin in September.
Categories
