b"Increased Grocery Prices and Inflations Impact on ConsumersAs grocery prices rise, consumers habits change.Ally RodenTHE INVASION OFUkraine andper year. So, to go from that to 13%ata large part of the increase, believes lasting impacts of the pandemic haveleast at groceryis a pretty remarkableLusk. In the aftermath of the pan-altered patterns of trade production andincrease, explains Lusk. demic, a big jump in money supply was consumer behavior across the globe,shown as households received stimu-exacerbating food insecurity and inflation. Energy Costs, Macro-Economiclus or relief checks in the mail. With the Average prices in October 2022 forFactors and Consumer Demand increase in unemployment benefits and wheat, maize and rice were 18%, 27% andWhile there are various factors contribut- the Supplement Nutrition Assistance 10% greater, respectively, than in Octobering to the higher prices, one of the great- Program (SNAP) payments, household 2021, according to the World Bank. est is energy costs, according to Michellesaving rates soared.Grocery and restaurant food prices areKlieger, owner of Stratagerm Consulting.People had a lot more money. They nearly 11% higher than they were at theEnergy costs began to rise significantlyweren't able to get out and spend it, so same time last year, according to Jaysonin 2021 due to COVID-19s impact onthey were saving it. This all was going on Lusk, Purdue University distinguished pro- Chinas coal production and environmen- at a time when supply was constrained fessor of Agricultural Economics. Grocerytal conditions, resulting in a decrease inbecause in a lot of parts of the coun-prices alone are 13.5% higher than 2021.hydroelectric and wind in Europe. As thetry, people weren't getting out of their That's a pretty dramatic increaseworld reopened, an increase for energyhouses, says Lusk. That leads to the in food prices, and a level of food pricefollowed. Russias invasion of Ukraineclassic definition of inflation. You had too increases that we really haven't seen sincein February pushed those prices evenmany dollars chasing too few goods, and the 1970s. Just to give some perspective,higher, massively impacting energy mar- it means the value of each dollar falls, for the decade prior to the pandemic,kets. Russia is a major exporter of energywhich gets reflected in higher prices. In we averaged an about 1% to 2% increaseand fertilizer. When exports were halted,that sense, food is not different than a lot the prices of diesel and gas to powerof the other parts of the economy where equipment rosetherefore, transporta- prices have been increasing, too.tion costs went up. Despite similarities between various The cost of containers to transportsectors of the economy and the agricul-the goods can be blamed for a portionture industry, there are some issues that of the increase, which is bad news for theset it apart. For example, U.S. trade part-agriculture industry.ners have expressed a greater demand for We use a lot of containers to trans- ag commodities, such as China. At various port, especially commodities aroundpoints over the past year or so, China has the world. You're competing with highbought more corn, beef and pork. This value products that can pay more. Thereremoves products from the U.S. market, weren't as many containers and theycreating higher prices in the U.S.were really expensive, which also droveThere has also been a greater demand the cost of food up, says Klieger. for food from U.S. consumers. With this Broad macro-economic factors coverincrease, companies across the supply chain are struggling to get enough employ-ees to come in to work, and those that do show up are requiring higher wages. And then at least for some commodi-ties, there's been weather events that have affected food and commodities. If we back up a year or so, there were weather issues in South America that 72/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2022"