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USDA prices received index up 4.5% on month

 

The USDA’s index of prices received by producers jumped 4.5% from February to March. That includes a 5.9% increase in the livestock index, along with a 1.5% rise in crops. Prices were higher for market eggs, broilers, milk, and lettuce, and lower for hogs, oranges, lemons, and grapefruit. Marketings were up for cattle, calves, milk, and strawberries, and down for soybeans, hay, cotton, and apples.

The prices paid index was 0.1% higher, with higher prices for hay and forages, herbicides, insecticides, and complete feeds, mostly canceled out by lower prices for feeder cattle, feeder pigs, field crops, and diesel.

Year to year, the prices received index is up 0.9%, with a 2.2% increase in crops canceling out 0.7% decline in livestock, and the prices paid index is 1.8% higher. The index of prices paid remains above the index of prices received.