Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
I hope you enjoyed your holiday meal with your family and friends. If you are the grocery shopper of your home, there is no doubt that you have noticed that a $100 grocery shopping trip sure doesn’t fill the cart anymore.
I think that it is natural for consumers to automatically think that the farmers and ranchers must be living “high on the hog”, no pun intended. But really that couldn’t be further from the truth.
National Farmers Union (NFU) released the updated Farmer’s Share of the food dollar for items typically served during the Thanksgiving holiday. These figures reflect how much family farmers earn compared to the amount consumers pay at the grocery store.
Turkey and stuffing, the centerpieces of many Thanksgiving tables, have the lowest farmer’s share of the food dollar of the group with just $0.03 and $0.02 of each dollar spent at retail making it back to growers.
Included in the 2023 Thanksgiving Farmer’s Share numbers are:
- Turkey, 11 lb frozen: Retail Price – $21.89, Farmer’s Share – $0.66
- Mashed Potatoes, 5lb bag: Retail Price – $3.99, Farmer’s Share – $0.64
- Sweet Corn, 16oz frozen: Retail Price – $2.99, Farmer’s Share – $0.41
- Stuffing, 12oz box: Retail Price – $3.99, Farmer’s Share – $0.09
- Boneless Ham, 2lb: Retail Price – $12.98, Farmer’s Share – $1.32
- Pumpkin Pie Filling, 15oz can: Retail Price – $1.79, Farmer’s Share – $0.16
- Cranberries, 12oz: Retail Price – $2.99, Farmer’s Share – $0.29
While these facts are not very fun, they are facts nonetheless that are important for consumers to know.
The farmer’s share of every dollar consumers spend on food has fallen from 50 percent in 1952 to less than 15 percent today. Even though consumers are paying more for food this year, almost none of that is being passed on to America’s family farmers and ranchers.
Have a great weekend.
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her former role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
You can hear her almost every Friday on Your Ag Network’s Hot Barn Report, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and industry reforms. Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
Follow Karina Jones on Facebook!
