On a total energy consumption basis, the United States hovers just above 10 percent that is sourced from renewable fuels; wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal feedstocks. On a recent road trip, it was clear that the Midwest States were … Continue reading →
In our Central Illinois community, both Kroger and Walmart are selling eggs below $3.00/dozen. It is difficult to believe that this is news. However in 2025, the retail price of a dozen eggs was high enough to drive the nation’s … Continue reading →
Ben Laine, Terrainag.com wrote an interesting report dairy digester sustainability. One graphic message in an animated version of this map shows US dairy digester growth since 2001. Dairy digesters keep growing in size. The most recent digesters dwarf the earlier … Continue reading →
This final lesson on shaping data in Excel is brought to you by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) website. Reviewing the YouTube videos created for this data-shaping exercise, the 4 videos span 45 total … Continue reading →
The last few months have provided opportunity to flex my spreadsheet skillset. Excel code and technique seemed to erupt through the keyboard. In the last few months, diverse datasets have included: 2024 household food expenditures 2024 household power consumption and … Continue reading →
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) carries significant weight in the flow of decisions and confidence in the US economy. Does the CPI mirror authentic food purchases? YES! Are household food expenditures and the Food … Continue reading →
Food Price Fun compares the theory of food prices to practices of buying food. On the one hand the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) food prices provide the benchmark for the macroeconomy of food. But … Continue reading →
While reviewing 2024 household expenditures at year’s end, the items within each grocery bill were retrievable. Access to this level of analysis opens new opportunities for understanding food prices. In the random data universe, this is an n=1. In other … Continue reading →
This chart is from the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA Agricultural Projections to 2034, released on 2/18/25. The 2025 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum occurred the following week, 2/27-28/25. This series of events mark the end of the last US … Continue reading →
Last Thursday and Friday, (2/27 & 2/28/2025), the USDA held their annual February, Agricultural Outlook Forum in DC. This marks the start of another growing season. The February date allows for last year’s crop year data to be tabulated and … Continue reading →
