State Fair Goers Enjoy Lunch for only 34 Cents during the Farmers Share Luncheon Today

September 8, 2015 – By #South Dakota Farmer Union

HURON, S.D. – Ever reach for an item on your grocery list only to recoil from the price?

 “I frequently have non-farming friends make comments about how good prices must be after a trip to the grocery store. The truth is, even when prices are down to the point where I’m not even breaking even, prices in the grocery store don’t reflect this,” explains Wayne Soren, Lake Preston crop and cattle farmer and Vice President of South Dakota Farmers Union.

 During the Farmers Share Luncheon hosted by South Dakota Farmers Union and held today at the South Dakota State Fair in Huron, fairgoers learned exactly what portion of the grocery store price tag South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers take home after harvesting the crops or livestock they raise.

 In the case of this State Fair lunch comprised of a pulled pork sandwich, baked beans, potato chips and milk – retailing for about $8 – South Dakota farmers were paid a whopping 34 cents!

 “I am surprised because it seems like farmers receive a lot less money than they should,” said Marie Langbehn, who attended the Farmers Share Lunch with her family.

 Langbehn’s reaction doesn’t surprise Karla Hofhenke, Executive Director of S.D. Farmers Union. “Everyone is concerned about high prices in the grocery store – I understand that; it wasn’t too many years ago that I was shopping for a family of five,” Hofhenke said.  “However, what our state’s farmers and ranchers actually take home as income is a far cry from the prices we all see on our grocery receipt after a trip to the supermarket.”

 Educating consumers is one of many tasks the century’s old organization takes on to support the state’s family farmers, ranchers and their rural communities.

 “Since our beginning, Farmers Union has worked to improve family farm and ranch incomes. Farmers and ranchers only receive about 15 cents of every food dollar consumers spend on food,” says Doug Sombke, S.D. Farmers Union President and a fourth-generation Conde farmer. “As South Dakota’s number one industry, the dollars our state’s farmers and ranchers earn make a significant contribution to our economy as a whole.”

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Last Modified: 09/08/2015 12:21:33 pm MDT