Food manufacturers caught a rare bit of relief on the input side this week, but the details complicate the good news.
The FIE Input Cost Index fell for a fourth straight week. It remains in High Pressure territory, where it’s been since the index launched.
Grain led the move, corn eased to $5.23 a bushel, wheat dropped to $6.89, and soybeans slid to $12.88. Slower harvests normally squeeze near-term supply and push prices higher. Iowa’s corn and soybean harvest is running 50% to 80% behind normal pace.
Boxed beef climbed for a second straight week, up to $377.50 per hundredweight. Meanwhile, a new Farm Bureau survey found retail ground beef fell just 2% after the administration expanded duty-free imports of lean beef trimmings by 661 million pounds. Cash cattle held firm through the week, and ranchers are earning $300 to $400 less per head than two months ago.
As Madhav Durbha, VP of Industry Strategy at RELEX Solutions, noted, cattle biology doesn’t run on a policy clock, and a 90-day tariff fix can’t undo a multi-year herd rebuild.
Get the full breakdown, including this week’s composite score and what to watch next.
