Thanksgiving more expensive this year; rising costs will continue

Thanksgiving dinner will cost 20% more than it did last year, according to a report by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

On the consumer end, general inflation, the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions are factored into the American Farm Bureau’s analysis.  The producers — farmers — face these issues and rising prices for fuel, fertilizer and other inputs.

For farmers in the Western states, some of those inputs are the cost of a dwindling water supply.  In California, the regulatory costs associated with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act may force farms out of business.  The Los Angeles Times reports that California’s farmland is shrinking because of the drought, accounting for a $1.7 billion loss in agricultural revenues this year.

In general, food prices will continue to rise throughout 2023, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Price Outlook for 2022 and 2023.

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