The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its preliminary report on October farm prices Monday afternoon. The prices-received index declined 8 percentage points month-over-month to 89, with the crop production index dropped 8 points to 80 and the livestock production index fell 5 points to 104. The index uses prices from 2011 as its base value (100).
The USDA noted October’s lower prices received for cattle, market eggs, lettuce, and broilers offset higher prices for sweet corn, milk, strawberries, and hogs. Prices paid by farmers in the month remained unchanged at an index value of 107.
The price farmers received for livestock is about 23% lower than it was a year ago and the price for meat animals is 4.4% lower. The October hog price is up $1.00 per hundredweight since September, and down $21.50 compared with October 2014. Beef prices are down $33.00 per hundredweight compared with the October 2014 price and down $11.00 compared with September.
Year-over-year all-wheat prices are down $0.84 a bushel at $4.87 and feed corn is down a penny compared with September but up $0.10 compared with October 2014 at $3.67 a bushel.
Dairy prices were up 1.1% month-over-month but down 29% year-over-year. Market egg prices fell $0.54 per dozen compared with September prices to $1.36 a dozen. A dozen eggs costs $0.325 more than it did in October 2014.
The prices farmers paid for feeder pigs rose $14 month-over-month to $117 per hundredweight in October. Feeder cattle prices rose $2.00 per hundredweight to $199.00 in September.
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