Food price inflation is still in the news. Eggs have become a national security issue. Well, one would think so from the news. Mostly, the egg-laying chickens are sick and dying. But once we get beyond this egg-industry crisis, we … Continue reading →
One hundred and one years ago, USDA began counting the production of soybeans on US farms. This is not because that is when farmers began harvesting soybeans for grain. No. This is when the quantity of soybean production was sufficient … Continue reading →
In a January 21, LinkedIn post about a 1/19/25 Wall Street Journal Article on food prices rising in December, it was speculated that it is traditional food eating month. If prices were going to rise in an annual cycle, December … Continue reading →
Is emerging cellular agriculture an extension of farming? Or is it a replacement for farming? An extension of farming – grain to beer – is an economic complement. A farm replacement – meat and dairy protein from tanks – is … Continue reading →
Fifteen years ago, I mentioned to my brilliant director at University of California, Davis, California Biomass Collaborative, that I thought we were heading to a future where we could produce milk and meat without animals, through cellular regeneration. We had … Continue reading →
Raised by depression-era parents, I have lived through the 1980s farm crisis, and spent 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal using my first degree (BS agronomy) to help Nepali farmers grow more food. In the 80s and … Continue reading →
If this chart looks familiar, it is because this is the food price inflation chart used in the post, ‘Food Prices are Not Driving 2024 Inflation – Real Adventures in Economics. The difference is the scale of the vertical axis. … Continue reading →
The American Farm Bureau Federation does an excellent job with the annual Thanksgiving Meal Survey, and they have for nearly 40 years. They have the infrastructure and the expertise to make it work every year. All of their prices are … Continue reading →
Who pays a tariff? This was a standard question in my Greenville University undergraduate economics class. Tariffs are taxes, mostly on imported goods. When the United States imposes a 25 percent, or $0.25/$1, tariff on an imported good, an imported … Continue reading →
The last few years have been an inflationary roller coaster. On September 26, nearly 50 years of US inflation was used to illustrate HOW NOT TO USE inflation (spurious correlation). Part of understanding what charts of inflation actually mean, is … Continue reading →
