C-FARE Info

Food Price Outlook, 2011

USDA ERS’s food price outlook is available for May 2011. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food is probably the most widely used indicator of changes in retail food prices. ERS regularly updates food price forecasts for the short-term period. In 2011, the CPI for all food is projected to increase 3 to 4 percent.

Foodborne Illness Cost Calculator

This interactive USDA ERS web-based tool allows users to estimate the cost of illness due to specific foodborne pathogens. The updated ERS cost estimate for Shiga-toxin producing E. coli O157 (STEC O157) was added to the Calculator in 2008. Calculator users can now review and change the assumptions behind the ERS cost estimates for either STEC O157 or Salmonella. The assumptions that can be modified include the annual number of cases, the distribution of cases by severity, the use or costs of medical care, the amount or value of time lost from work, the costs of premature death, and the disutility costs for nonfatal cases. Users can also update the cost estimate for inflation for any year from 1997 to 2010.

ERS Report: Impacts of Regional Approaches To Rural Development: Initial Evidence On The Delta Regional Authority

USDA ERS recently released this publication: “The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) began funding rural development projects in economically distressed counties in the Mississippi River Delta region in 2002. To assess the initial economic outcomes of DRA funding, we compared nonmetropolitan DRA counties with similar counties elsewhere in the same region as well as in the Southeast. Per capita income, net earnings, and transfer payments grew more rapidly in DRA counties than in similar non-DRA counties, and those impacts were stronger in counties in which DRA spending was higher. Each additional dollar of DRA spending was associated with an increase of $15 in the growth of annual personal income from 2002 to 2007, including an increase of $8 in annual earnings (primarily in the health care and social services sector) and an additional $5 in annual transfer (Government) payments (mainly due to increased medical transfer payments such as Medicare and Medicaid). Our findings suggest that investments supported by the DRA in improved medical facilities and DRA efforts to increase the supply of health professionals may be promoting additional health sector earnings and medical transfer payments.”

House Agriculture Subcommittee Examines Crop Insurance Program

On June 24 Congressman K. Michael Conaway, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, held the first audit hearing on farm policy. This audit of agricultural programs is the first step in the farm bill process. Each chairman of the six subcommittees will hold hearings to examine programs in their respective jurisdictions to determine spending trends and confirm how programs work together. The June 24 Hearing examined the Federal Crop Insurance Program, which is a cornerstone of U.S. farm policy. Subcommittee Members looked for ways to reduce duplication between crop insurance and other farm programs, and examined whether the current administration and funding of the crop insurance program is sufficient to meet producer risk management needs. The witness was Mr. William J. Murphy (Administrator, Risk Management Agency, USDA). Read the testimony here.

Obama Administration Establishes White House Rural Council to Strengthen Rural Communities

The White House Rural Council, chaired by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, will coordinate programs across government to encourage public-private partnerships to promote further economic prosperity and quality of life in rural communities nationwide. The Council will be responsible for providing recommendations for investment in rural areas and will coordinate Federal engagement with a variety of rural stakeholders, including agricultural organizations, small businesses, and state, local, and tribal governments. For more details view the press release.