SPOKANE, Wash. — Increasing costs of food are putting more and more pressure on grocery store shoppers, but agricultural specialists said the impacts of inflation begin at the start of the production line.
Food producers said they’re fighting rising costs of feed, hay, gas and other farming essentials.
"We’re guessing it’s a 20% increase in most items,” Paul Kuber, professor at WSU agriculture production extension, said at Wednesday's Spokane Agriculture Expo.
Kuber said inflation is dominating all aspects of the food industry, from beginning to end.
“Some of our raw products and the cost of production are going up," Kuber said. "What we feed the animals is going up.”
Those increases are changing how producers are selling their product.
Dean Pike works for Idaho Livestock out of Hayden, ID. He said Idaho Livestock grows cattle and sells premium cuts of meat to consumers.
“When we harvest these cattle, we’re able to let them hang in the locker a lot longer, which makes it a lot tenderer and a lot better tasting,” Pike shared.
He said even his business is adapting to market pressures.
“What we’ve been working on is innovative marketing program where we sell this meat and create a down-payment plan," Pike said. "So then people can afford it over a period of time.”
Researchers said while this may be a tricky time to buy food and the things we need, they’re hopeful costs will come down as inflation cycles through.
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