Low supplies and coffee inflation are forcing roasters to raise prices of the favorite beverage for most Americans. One cause is a rising monthly consumer price index (CPI) in the U.S., which was up 0.3% in November. Since CPI tracks the cost of various commodities, any rise affects the pricing of many items, particularly food and beverages. Interestingly, some consumer classes...

A 61-year herd population low and market factors are buoying cattle prices in the U.S. unabatedly early December 2024.  Cattle charts show that virtually all ranching states from the Dakotas to Texas have recorded a monthly price strength. In the Dakotas, 700- to 800-Ib steers (castrated oxen) sold at $283.82 per hundredweight, $10 more than on November 11, 2024. A similar scenario informed...

Oregon’s fishermen await the opening of the dungeness crab season in mid-December despite postponement in California and Washington. Although only a portion of the Oregon coast will open, it is sufficient for seasoned fishermen who brave tough winters fishing. Crabbers will also recover from the summer 2023 setback when Oregon had extended a fishing ban to preserve the right whale.  Tell-tale crab...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development and Forests has reported stock decline of sardines in Morocco with consequential price surge. According to the ministry, the decline owes to heating open waters whose temperatures verge on 23ºC, above the 18º optimum. This news is likely to affect prices, which by August had risen to 35 dirhams ($3.51) per kg at the landing point....

From north to south, cattle prices in Australia have seen a positive growth early December 2024 after rain cut off supplies. During the period, southern Queensland, Victoria and the northern New South Wales received over 100 millimeters of rain.  Similar trends happened in the northwest, which according to Beef Central saw over 50 millimeters of saturation. As the last wet dust settled, cattlemen in...

The harvest of American sugar beet has ended in most locations, with uptick yields and volume climb year-on-year. American Crystal Sugar Company, a co-operative in North Dakota and Minnesota, alone has produced a record 13.2 million tonnes in 2024. This is above the 12.17 million tonnes that the company reaped in 2023.  The company’s output is significant as it normally contributes 1/3rd of...

A fishermen in Bristol, Maine landed a rare yellow lobster on December 7, 2024, two months after a similar catch in Nantucket, Massachusetts.   According to News Center Maine, Max Moody caught the crustacean after finding it among his traps on the nearby wharf.  Even though lobsters come in a variety of tinges from the typical mottled brown to orange,  blue...

Market prices of coffee returned down to earth briefly on December 2 to a 14-day low after scoring a 47-year high. But by December 5, they had rebounded sharply due to multiple factors including trade and weather forces. Arabica in New York rose by 3.23% while Robusta in London by 2.62%, attendant to drought reports from Brazil and Vietnam. The fall in prices...

750 farmers including women in the coffee-rich Sidama Zone of southern Ethiopia have received solar powered pumping systems, courtesy of an international initiative. The allocations to farmers in Dore Bafana Kebele and Hawassa Zuria Woreda demarcations in Sidama feature 145 kilowatt solar pumps.  Supervising the handover, the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP)’s representatives behind the project cited substantial emission cuts. Apparently, the China government-funded...

The recall of raw milk in California continues after the detection of bird flu microbes in samples from a local dairy farm. Fresno’s Raw Farm voluntarily recalled its milk following the first virus contamination case in its dairy on November 21. The California Department of Food and Agriculture on December 3, 2024 further advised people to forfeit milk purchased between November 9...