Agricultural News
Willingness to Pay by Consumers Slips in September From Month Ago- Mostly Up From Year Ago
Wed, 16 Sep 2015 05:33:39 CDT
The amount consumers are willing to pay for a range of meat products dropped this month, with deli ham dropping the most - about 21 percent - from levels a month earlier, according to Oklahoma State University's monthly Food Demand Survey. The Survey project is now in its third year and is being led by OSU Ag Economist Dr. Jayson Lusk.
Steak saw only a slight decrease from last month, down about 2.5 percent. However, consumers' willingness to pay for steak, chicken breast, deli ham and chicken wings are all higher now than at this time a year ago, the survey showed. The Willingness to Pay number for Steak dropped back below eight dollars after hitting $8.03 a pound in August of this year. The $7.83 Willingness to Pay for steak is sixty five cents higher than in September 2014.
Regarding issues related to the food supply, the survey indicated that salmonella, E. coli and GMOs were the most visible issues in the news over the past two weeks. The largest percent jump in awareness from August to September was for gestation crates and salmonella. The largest percent decrease in awareness from August to September was for bird flu and antibiotics.
Still, salmonella, E. coli and antibiotics were ranked as the top three concerns during September.
Each month, Dr. Lusk and his team also include several "ad hoc" questions on related subjects to gain understanding about how consumers perceive farming and ranching in the US. This month, the survey polled consumers' level of satisfaction "with the decisions and management practices of farmers these days." But the survey used the phrase "of farmers" on only one-third of the surveys, used the phrase "of agricultural producers" on another third, and used the phrase "in agriculture" on the rest.
Respondents were most likely to give the high score possible (a 10) when the phrase "of farmers" was used, with 10 percent rating farmers that highly. However, when the phrase was "agricultural producers," only 5.8 percent gave a "10" rating. And when the phrase "of agriculture" was used, only 5.5 percent rated their opinion a "10." The group asked the question with the phrase "of farmers" saw only fifty percent of those polled giving a seven or higher score for their level of satisfaction. The phrase "of agriculture" received a rating of seven or more from less than forty percent of those responding.
The full survey for September can be viewed by clicking here.
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