Dairy farmers received 30 percent of the retail value of dairy products sold in supermarkets in 2010 - up from 24 percent in 2009 - according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. The Food Dollar Series, a resource of the USDA’s Economic Research Service, offers useful data about annual expenditures by U.S. consumers on domestically produced food. The annually updated data series sheds light on different aspects of the food supply chain and who receives the consumer’s food dollar.
All statistics are reported as a percentage of an average consumer’s annual food dollar expenditure. Data is available from 1993 to 2010.
A look at the price data over 10 years (2000-2010) for dairy products shows that in 2010, farm share for fluid whole milk was 54 percent - a percentage met or exceeded only in 2007 (56 percent) and 2001 (54 percent).
When other dairy products, including cheddar cheese, ice cream and butter, are taken into account, 2010 dairy farm share dropped to 30 percent. Over the 10 years included in the data, the highest farm share percentage reached for dairy products was 35 percent in 2007.
To view the data, click here. PD
Information compiled from USDA data sets.
