Big Game Snacks Brought to You by America’s Farmers and Ranchers
Bernt Nelson
Economist
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
photo credit: AFBF Photo
Bernt Nelson
Economist
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
With the Super Bowl approaching this weekend, it’s important to remember how our favorite gameday snacks will put dollars back into the pockets of U.S. farmers. Chad Smith has the breakdown.
Smith: Each year, the Super Bowl draws one of the largest television audiences of any program, and viewers will have plenty of snacks to go along with the big game. In fact, the National Chicken Council estimates that 1.47 billion chicken wings will be eaten on Sunday alone. Bernt Nelson, an economist for the American Farm Bureau, says the big game has a significant impact on the farm economy.
Nelson: So, the average price for chicken wings right now is about $1.91 a pound. This means that wing sales for Super Bowl Sunday are going to generate about $561 million in revenue. So, USDA says that about 15.8 cents per consumer dollar spent goes back to the farmer. And if we add that at 1.47 billion chicken wings, that comes out to almost $89 million going back to the family farm.
Smith: He says the amount of money that goes back to the farmer depends on the product.
Nelson: So fresh vegetables, for example, like the carrots and celery we might add to our wings, they're pretty direct from the farm to the table, so they tend to have a higher percentage of income that goes back to the farmer. USDA says about 28 percent. Compare that to something like tortilla chips, it has a little bit more transformation when we think about corn coming from the field, making it into a chip that we dip, only about 1.5 percent of all the money spent on a 16-ounce bag of chips ends up back in the hands of the farmer.
Smith: Nelson says it’s important to remember that farmers are price takers, not price makers, and even on Super Bowl Sunday they’re working to stock our pantries.
Nelson: I think it's really important for people to understand that even though prices at the grocery store seem high, especially coming out of a time of high inflation, a pretty small percentage actually goes back to our nation's farmers. Our farmers are hardworking, they're resilient, so if you're lucky enough to be cheering on your favorite team next to one, don't forget to say thank you.
Smith: Learn more at fb.org/MarketIntel. Chad Smith, Washington.
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