Amber Waves

Amber Waves

Amber Waves is a monthly publication available on the ERS website. This digital magazine highlights the complete spectrum of ERS research and insights concerning economic and policy matters connected to agriculture, food, the environment, and rural communities in America.

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  • 1 month ago | ers.usda.gov | Wilma Davis |Catharine Weber |Helen Wakefield |Seth J. Wechsler

    Discover record-setting changes in consumption, along with key trade and price trends, in the April 2025 Vegetables and Pulses Outlook. Review new 2024 per capita availability estimates, explore organic and greenhouse crop insights, and access all data in a new, more accessible Excel file.

  • 1 month ago | ers.usda.gov

    Price changes for food typically vary across regions based on consumer purchasing patterns, market shifts, and inflationary trends. In 2024, food-at-home (grocery) prices in Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA; and San Diego, CA, each climbed 2.0 percent from the previous year, the highest increases for U.S. metro areas in that year. Denver, CO, was the only city where food-at-home prices slightly decreased, dropping by 0.2 percent. Food-at-home prices rose by 1.2 percent nationally in 2024, which was a smaller increase than in the two previous years (5.0 percent in 2023 and 11.4 percent in 2022). Over the past 10 years (2015–24), Tampa, FL, had the highest increase at 3.5 percent per year on average, followed by Honolulu, HI, and San Francisco, CA, both of which increased by 3.1 percent. In comparison, Anchorage, AK, had the smallest average increase of 2.0 percent over the 10-year period, lower than the 10-year national average of 2.6 percent. Differences in retail overhead expenses, such as labor and rent, can explain some variation among cities because retailers often pass local cost increases onto consumers in the form of higher prices. Each metro area’s inflation rate is calculated based on a representative set of foods that is unique to the area. For example, the types of fresh fruits or vegetables available and purchased by consumers can vary across areas, contributing to differences in inflation rates. This chart is drawn from a USDA, Economic Research Service data visualization, Food Price Environment: Interactive Visualization, which presents the 10-year moving average change in prices by metro area and was last updated March 25, 2025.

  • 2 months ago | ers.usda.gov | Andrew Rosenberg |Bryan Pratt

    As USDA’s largest land retirement program, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays landowners a yearly rental fee to convert highly erodible or otherwise environmentally sensitive land to vegetative cover such as native grasses. The program aims to achieve environmental benefits such as improving air and water quality, providing wildlife habitat, and sequestering carbon through land-use change. Contracts typically range from 10 to 15 years.

  • 2 months ago | ers.usda.gov | Catharine Weber |Helen Wakefield |Seth J. Wechsler

    This report covers basic supply, demand, price, and trade analysis for fruit and tree nuts. Commodities discussed include oranges, berries, apples, avocados, melons, pistachios, and pecans.

  • 2 months ago | ers.usda.gov | Carrie Litkowski |Anil Giri |Dipak Subedi |Tia M. McDonald

    The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated economic effects had implications for U.S. farms, the households that operate them, and the value of the land being farmed. Farm operations received record-level direct Government payments in 2020 largely due to financial assistance from COVID-19-related programs. Farm households, many of which rely on off-farm employment to supplement their total household income, were susceptible to higher nonfarm unemployment rates in 2020.

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