Peanut Butter

January 17, 2012 — The Editors

In the United States peanuts are popular. They form the basis for a staple of many American diets, peanut butter, a reasonably priced source of protien. As a consequence, there has been much press coverage lately about the likely increase in the price of peanut butter. The poor peanut crop in 2011 has caused raw peanut prices to rise and this increased price is expected to be seen on grocery store shelves shortly.

Today’s market size is the size of the market for peanuts for use in the production of peanut butter in the United States. In the year 2000 peanut butter accounted for the end use on half the peanut crop and in 2009 peanut butter accounted for 63.5% of peanut usage.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2000 and 2009
Market size: 753 million pounds and 1.19 billion pounds respectively.
Source: “Peanut Use by Type of Product,” part of the USDA’s Economic Research Service series of reports on the availability of foods by type, available here.

Original source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
Posted on January 17, 2012

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Food Processing. No Comments »

Cantaloups and Other Agricultural Commodities

December 30, 2011 — The Editors

Being people who work with statistical data every day it was with great pleasure that we read recently that the USDA has decided to reverse its earlier decision to eliminate dozens of longstanding statistical reports that it has maintained for decades. Turns out the industries being covered by these reports find them extremely valuable, essencial really. So, industry leaders explained just how important those reports are to their planning and financing and the USDA reconsidered. We find this development most encouraging. Some things really are best done at the large scale by an entity not motivated by its own commercial interests.

Today’s market size, selected from a long list of indept USDA commodity reports, is the market for domestic cantaloup. It is the value (farm value or wholesale value) of cantaloups harvested in in the United States in 2010 when 77,430 acres were planted with cantaloup.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $314.4 million
Source: William Neuman, “U.S. Reverses Decision To End Farming Reports,” The New York Times, December 24, 2011, page B3, available online here. The USDA report on cantaloups can be found online here. The figure used here is from Table 3—U.S. cantaloup: Acreage, yield, production, and value, 1950-2010.
Original source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Posted on December 30, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Information Technology, National Infrastructure. 1 Comment »

Caviar

December 19, 2011 — The Editors

Caviar is one of those luxury items that has not seen a great decline during the recession and financial crisis that started in 2007 and 2008. In fact, demand for caviar has been strong and since over fishing in the Caspian Sea has left the sturgeon species depleted in that region, farms are emerging around the world to produce caviar and meet the strong demand.

In the 1970s, an estimated 550 tons of caviar were produced annually around the world. This caviar came primarily from wild sturgeon. Fourty years later, production comes primarily from farm raised sturgeon and while production is down sharply from the highs of the 1970s, it is expected to continue rising into the foreseeable future.

Today’s market size is the estimated total world production of caviar in 2010.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: 250 tons with a wholesale price in the range of $500 to $600 per pound.
Source: Raphael Minder, “Caviar Migrates Beyond The Caspian Region,” The New York Times, December 17, 2011, page B3.
Original source: Patrick Williot
Posted on December 17, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Aquaculture, Food, Hunting & Fishing. No Comments »

Gluten-free Foods

November 30, 2011 — The Editors

Gluten is a protein found in various cereal grains, most notably wheat. This protein makes for the elastic texture of dough. It is also a protein that must be avoided by those with celiac disease, a condition which seriously interferes with the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. An in-depth epidemiological study whose findings were publishied in 2003 found that one in ever 133 people in the United States suffers from celiac disease. Celiac disease sufferers and their immediate families are a natural market for gluten-free foods and the food industry has been increasing the number of gluten-free products on the market at a rapid pace in recent years. Those gluten-free offerings include breads, cookies, crackers, breakfast cereals, and cake mixes.

Today’s market size is the estimated size by value of the gluten-free market in the Untied States.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: $6.3 billion
Source: Keith O’Brien, “Beat the Wheat,” The New York Times Magazine, page 50, November 27, 2011, available online here.
Original source: Spins, a market research firm.
Posted on November 30, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Food Processing, Snack Food. No Comments »

Canned Pumpkin

November 23, 2011 — The Editors

For most people in the United States the first two things that pop to mind when the word pumpkin comes up are pumpkin carving for jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pie. It is the latter that inspired today’s post since pumpkin pie is one of the traditional dishes on a Thanksgiving Day menu.

Only a small portion of the pumpkins grown in the United States are actually used for decoration and jack-o-lanterns. The majority are consumed as food and most of those are processed into canned pumpkin and pie mix. The place most associated with this pumpkin processing is the town of Morton, Illinois where, in a Libby’s processing plant, approximately 85% of the the world’s canned pumkin is canned.

Today’s market size is the estimated value of the 2011 pumpkin crop in the United States. We wishing all our visitors a Happy Thanksgiving.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: $116.5 million
Source: Malinda Geisler, “Pumpkins,” one of a series of reports producted by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. This one is dated August 2011 and is available online here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Posted on November 23, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Food Processing. No Comments »

Deer Breeding Market

November 16, 2011 — The Editors

Deer Crossing Sign

A recent crack down on smuggling operations in Texas has shed light on a market about which many of us are probably entirely unaware. In fact, for an urban dweller, reading about the illigal smuggling of deer and deer breeding operations is a little like reading a science fiction story. It turns out that many hunters, and particularly big game hunters, are willing to pay a very high price for a deer with trophy size antlers. Since the native deer of Texas have more diminuitive antlers than do the white-tail deer found further north, the illegal smuggling of big antlered deer exists in Texas. Transporting white-tail deer into Texas is restricted to help protect the native deer species from diseases not found in their herds. However, the breeding of deer with white-tail deer sperm is legal in Texas but it is very expensive. Thus, the illegal importing of white-tail deer has become a lucrative, black market in Texas.

Today’s market size is the estimated value of the legal deer breeding business in the United States.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007
Market size: $650 million
Source: Cindy Horswell, “Authorities Target Texas Deer Smugglers,” South Texas Outdoors, October 19, 2011, available online here.
Original source: Texas A&M University
Posted on October 16, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Hunting & Fishing. No Comments »

Bio-Based Manufacturing

November 4, 2011 — The Editors

In 2011, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry introduced her “Grow It Here, Make It Here” initiative to spur growth in the emerging bio-based manufacturing industry. The initiative would provide a 30% tax cut for new, expanded, or re-equipped bio-manufacturing projects. Bio-based manufacturing uses agricultural goods, such as soy and wheat, to make value-added products, such as car parts, cleaning products, and plastics. This is not a new concept. Henry Ford used Michigan-grown soy and other agricultural products in his automobiles. In recently years, more and more automakers are using parts made from agricultural products. An example: the seats of the new Ford Focus and the Chevy Volt are made of Michigan-grown soy material.

Currently bio-based products represent 4% of the plastic and chemical industry market. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the potential market for bio-based plastic and chemicals could reach 20% by 2025 with federal policy support. Some studies show that if that 20% is reached, it would create more than 100,000 American jobs. This does, however, assume that agricultural production is able to keep up with strongly increasing demand and do so while maintaining competitive prices. Today’s market size is the estimated, current value of the bio-based economy in the United States.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market Size: $1.25 Trillion
Source: “Stabenow Announces ‘Grow It Here, Make It Here’ Initiative to Advance Emerging Michigan Industry in Zeeland,” October 24, 2011, available online here.
Posted on November 4, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Chemicals, Fabric & Fiber, Natural Resources, Plastic. 1 Comment »

State Fairs

August 15, 2011 — The Editors

All but two states in the U.S. host an annual state fair. These fairs originated as competitive venues for displaying and ranking of livestock and other agricutural products. The events usually also included competitive events for visitors, such as pie eating contests or contests of strength. The displaying of arts and crafts was also a common feature in early state fairs as it is today still. The earliest official State Fair was in Detroit Michigan. Sadly, Michigan is one of the two states which has discontinued it’s state fair in the last two years due to budgetary limitations. The other state is Navada.


Minnesota—the 21st state in a ranking of states based on 2010 population—has consistently had the second ranked State Fair when measured by attendance in recent years.

Today’s market share is the size of the attendance at the 2010 Minnesota State Fair, celebrated between August 26 and September 6, 2010. This year’s Minnesota State Fair will run from August 25 through September 5, 2011.

Geographic reference: State of Minnesota
Year: 2010
Market size: 1.78 million visitors
Source: “Carnivalwarehouse.com’s 2010 Top 50 Fairs,” a ranking published annually by the source, originally Matt’s Carnival Warehouse, founded in 1997. A list of recent Top 50 lists with links to each is available online here.
Original source: Carnivalwarehouse.com

Posted in Agriculture, Entertainment. No Comments »

Farmers Markets

August 8, 2011 — The Editors

Our selection of a market for today’s post was made to honor National Farmers Market Week.

Over the past 40 years, farmers markets have grown in popularity. As people become more health conscious and demand locally- and organically-grown foods, more and more cities and towns host farmers markets in the summertime. In 2010, there were also nearly 900 farmers markets operating in the wintertime (November through March). According to a new report by an agricultural economist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, increasing the number of farmers markets could create tens of thousands of jobs in economically struggling rural and urban areas.

To promote farmers markets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture instituted National Farmers Market Week in 2000. In 2011, National Farmers Market Week is August 7-13. Data show the number of farmers markets nationwide in 1970 and 2011.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1970 and 2011
Market Size: 340 and more than 7,000 respectively
Source: “Farmers Markets Boost Local Economies,” WLNS.com, August 4, 2011, available online here; Sam Jones-Ellard, “USDA Highlights Nearly 900 Operating Winter Markets; Many Markets Located in Cold-Weather States,” Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, December 8, 2010, available online here.

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Retail Outlets. 3 Comments »

Hop Stocks

August 1, 2011 — The Editors

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Agency (NASS) produces annual reports on individual commodities. One of the commodities they track is hops, an aromatic flower used most commonly in the brewing of beer.

The market size presented today is the size of the stock of hops held by hops dealers, hops growers and beer brewers as of March 1, 2011. The graph is a presentation of hops stocks in the United States over a 20-year period and shows how recent stockpiles are at record highs. High stockpiles are a sign of a sluggish market and pressure on pricing, something that has not been seen in most agricultural commodity markets in the last few years.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: 109 million pounds
Source: “Hop Stocks,” March 2011, an annual report which is available online here. Unlike most graphs we present on this blog, we did not produce this one. It comes directly from the USDA report.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, NASS
Posted on August 1, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Beverages. 1 Comment »
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