U.S.D.A. says food prices to rise 2.5% to 3.5% in 2014

The all-food component of the Consumer Price Index was forecast to rise 2.5% to 3.5% in 2014, accord…

The all-food component of the Consumer Price Index was forecast to rise 2.5% to 3.5% in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Price Outlook issued Feb. 25. Such a level of price inflation would represent a jump from 1.4% in all-food price inflation in 2013, the report said.

Foods consumed at home with the highest price inflation forecasts in 2014 were beef, veal and poultry, expected to show a 3% to 4% rise in prices compared with 2013. The food items expected to show the lowest rates of price inflation were fats, oils, cereals and bakery products, whose prices were expected to show price advances of 1.5% to 2.5% in 2014, the Food Price Outlook said.

Forecast changes in prices paid to producers (the Producer Price Index) for 2014 showed a wider range of changes. On the high end, prices paid to farmers for cattle were expected to rise 5% to 6% in 2014. Farm eggs were expected to rise 4% to 5% in 2014.

Some of the widest declines in producer prices forecast for 2014 included farm-level soybeans and wheat, expected to fall in price by 7% to 8% in 2014 compared with 2013, and wholesale wheat flour, which was expected to decline in price by 9% to 10% from the previous year, the U.S.D.A. said.