Kentucky food prices are at an all-time high, that’s according to the Farm Bureau’s quarterly marketplace report.The state saw an increase of 5.7 percent increase in September from the previous quarter.
The Farm Bureau’s Dan Smaldone says the jump is partly due to last year’s drought that affected grain farmers and had a ripple effect on other parts of the system.
He says the numbers should not be a cause of great concern, as Kentucky has experienced downward or stagnant trends in recent quarters while the national numbers have continued to rise.
“I think when we look at one snapshot in time it’s hard to say that we have an issue on our hands with food prices. So we have to be cautious not to ring too many alarms with this,” says Smaldone.
Smaldone believes the last time the Farm Bureau saw a food price increase over 5 percent was in 2008.