Are you in the market for data covering locally and regionally produced agricultural products? You are not alone. Consumer demand for local and regional food products continues to soar, with retail sales at an estimated $6.1 billion in 2012. Thanks to support from the 2014 Farm Bill, USDA Market News created a series of market reports on locally or regionally produced agricultural products.
USDA Market News – administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) – provides unbiased, reliable data that serves as the information lifeline for America’s agricultural economy. The reports for local and regional food outlets – available on the Local & Regional Food Marketing Information webpage – provide farmers, agricultural businesses, and consumers with a one-stop-shop for market and pricing information.
The number of reports and the breadth of information available will continue to grow over the next few years. In fact, USDA Market News is now issuing a new weekly National Retail Report covering local and organic products. This report covers online advertisement surveys highlighting local or organic foods from about 534 retailers and over 29,000 stores nationwide. The report features advertised prices for fruits and vegetables, livestock, poultry, and dairy products.
You can find other new reports featuring locally or regionally produced agricultural products on the webpage, including direct to consumer reports, which capture the prices of commodities that farmers sell directly to consumers. A prime example is the Vermont Monthly Local Beef Report, which provides price information for local beef sold within Vermont and other regional areas. Market News reporters also continue to develop local and regional market reports like the North Carolina Farm-to-School report which details Farm-to-School products grown, sold, and consumed within North Carolina. In addition to these reports, our market reports now cover over 250 organic items.
As consumer demand for local foods has grown, Market News strives to deliver up-to-date information to a broad range of stakeholders at all levels of trading. The new National Local and Organic Retail Report complements the new series of USDA Market News local and regional food market reports to meet the growing needs from this sector of agriculture.
USDA Market News makes our nation’s commodity markets one of the most transparent in the world and provides critical market intelligence. This year marks the 100th anniversary of USDA Market News. The new reports are one example of how Market News works to ensure that everyone in the agricultural supply chain has the information they need when they need it. We encourage you to take a look at our website, infographic, and video to see why for 100 years USDA Market News has been a trusted source then, now, and always.
