MINNEAPOLIS — The record drought gripping half the country will help push food prices up by 3 to 4 percent next year, the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.
Milk, eggs, beef, poultry and pork prices will be affected by the drought, which has pushed up prices for feed. Beef prices are expected to see the biggest jump at 4 to 5 percent. Dairy product prices are forecast to climb 3.5 to 4.5 percent; poultry and egg prices are projected to rise 3 to 4 percent; and pork prices are expected to rise 2.5 to 3.5 percent in 2013, the agency said.
“In 2013, as a result of this drought, we are looking at above-normal food price inflation,” USDA economist Richard Volpe said. “Consumers are certainly going to feel it.”
Normal grocery price inflation is about 2.8 percent, he added, so even at the low end of the projected range, people will see their grocery expenses rise more than usual next year. The USDA kept its projected food price increase for 2012 steady at 2.5 to 3.5 percent.
The figures are the agency’s first food-price projections to factor in the drought, although farmers and others have been warning that prices will rise. The drought has sent corn, soybean and other commodity prices soaring in recent weeks as fields dry out and crops wither across much of the country’s midsection.
Volpe said the drought is not expected to affect prices for fruits and vegetables. Most of those crops are irrigated. The USDA is projecting an overall 2 to 3 percent increase for all fruits and vegetables next year, the same as it expects this year.
USDA economists were aware of the drought a month ago when they did their last projections but didn’t know how bad it would get, Volpe said.
“This drought was a surprise for everybody,” Volpe said. “The USDA was forecasting a record year for the corn crop until this drought materialized. Now we’re not going to get that.”
