ERS conducts studies and evaluations of the WIC Program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), the third largest USDA domestic food and nutrition assistance program.
Interactive charts and highlights of the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE).
ERS research in this topic area focuses on the economic, social, spatial, temporal, and demographic factors that affect the poverty status of rural residents.
SNAP Policy Database provides a central data source for information on State-level program policies in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The data include historical U.S. and State-level farm income and wealth estimates as well as U.S.-level forecasts for the current calendar year.
Yearbook tables contain a time series of annual per capita supply and use data for fresh and processed vegetables and for dry pulse crops. Included are U.S. production, exports, imports, per capita utilization, and prices.
At the current forecast of 6.16 million tons, the 2017/18 U.S. citrus crop is down 21 percent percent from the 2016/17 season, resulting in higher citrus prices in the domestic market.
In FY 2017, expenditures on USDA’s 15 domestic food and nutrition programs totaled $98.6 billion, 4 percent less than in the previous fiscal year and almost 10 percent less than the historical high of $109.2 billion set in FY 2013.
Consolidation has been widespread, persistent, and pronounced in crop production, and dramatic in some livestock sectors. Little consolidation has occurred in pasture/grazing land, and in the cow-calf sector.
Seasonal feature: ERS provides background data on U.S. turkey production, use, and trade since 2012, as well as wholesale and retail prices.
Seasonal feature: Pumpkin production is widely dispersed across U.S. regions. Get background information and data on pumpkins – production, top States, crop yield, demand, farm and retail prices.
ERS and USDA resources covering recent hurricane impacts, as well as historical and background information reporters may find useful.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food is probably the most widely used indicator of changes in retail food prices. ERS regularly updates food price forecasts for the short-term period.
China’s foreign investments have included hundreds of agriculture-and-food-related ventures involving many commodities. Agribusinesses from developed nations are increasingly becoming targets for Chinese investors.
The ERS State Fact Sheets provide information on population, income, poverty, food security, education, employment, organic agriculture, farm characteristics, farm financial indicators, top commodities, and agricultural exports. Data are av...
Comparing households with similar per capita incomes, researchers found that Millennials devote more of their at-home food spending to prepared foods than older generations.
U.S. manufacturing employment has been declining since the 1950s. A better understanding of the factors affecting the survival of rural manufacturing plants may help develop strategies to retain these jobs.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has undergone economic, social, and demographic transformations over the past 10 to 15 years. Among the poorest regions in the world, it faces major political and economic challenges and low food security.
The Economic Research Service (ERS) shapes its research program and products to assist those who routinely make or influence public policy and program decisions.
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