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USDA Enhances Market Coverage in Retail Outlets

Posted by Michael Sheats, Director of the AMS Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News Division in Farming Food and Nutrition Technology
Sep 09, 2024
Products on shelves

Each week USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) publishes a series of retail reports through our Market News service that reflect advertised prices for products being featured to consumers at grocery stores across the country. We recently transitioned our retail reports covering red meats, poultry, and eggs to the My Market News platform, which allows users to filter and customize the information to meet their individual needs. This is part of an ongoing effort to modernize the AMS market reporting data collection and delivery system to improve the customer experience.

The transition also expands the range of consumer products covered to include items with unique production and marketing practices that create additional value in the marketplace like organic and antibiotic-free products. Lamb and veal data will now have dedicated reports and a new report covering consumer goat products will be added.

AMS developed the retail report series in 2005 when the market lacked insight into the marketing of agricultural commodities at retail outlets to consumers. Unlike many other sources of retail data currently in the marketplace, AMS retail reports provide a weekly summary of advertised prices by major retail supermarket outlets for the most commonly marketed consumer cuts of red meat and poultry, and for eggs. The reports provide a powerful tool for users to measure, analyze, anticipate, and react to retail marketing trends, providing valuable insight into consumer demand trends.

The enhanced reports will also be available through the USDA Market News App, providing instant access to market information. Both iOS and Android versions are available to download through the Apple and Google Play stores. Search for “USDA Market News Mobile Application” to download the app and begin exploring its potential.