Rising temperatures are leading to rising produce prices

The Street

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why your fruits and vegetables now cost more.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Giddens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:02Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:04Wall Street is keeping one eye on the Federal Reserve

00:07this Tuesday as policymakers begin

00:09two days of deliberation on the path of interest rates.

00:12The other eye will be on earnings.

00:14Some 44 companies in the S&P 500 are

00:17set to report quarterly results, including Microsoft, Starbucks,

00:21PayPal, and Merck.

00:23In other news, record temperatures

00:25are likely to lead to a long-term spike in food prices.

00:29Farmers are struggling with crops

00:30as searing heat and water shortages impact

00:33how much food is being grown.

00:35Most produce prices are locked in for the summer,

00:38but prices are likely to rise later in the year

00:40due to decreased supply.

00:42Organic farmers in California and Oregon

00:45have seen fruits like blueberries and citrus

00:47shrivel under temperatures that have topped 100 degrees.

00:51Meanwhile, as the heartland bakes,

00:53corn production has declined.

00:56Corn growers are losing, quote, $720 million

00:59in revenue annually due to heat's effect on crop yields,

01:03which will increase to a projected $1.7 billion

01:06annually by 2030, a 2021 study published by the Atlantic

01:11Council projected.

01:12Researchers and experts say that will

01:14force farmers to raise prices in order to stay in business.

01:18And that will have a knock-on effect

01:20throughout the food chain.

01:22Farmers use grains and vegetables

01:24as feed for livestock like chicken and cows.

01:27So as warmer temperatures push input costs higher,

01:30meat producers will be forced to pass that on to consumers,

01:33ultimately leading to higher meat prices at the grocery

01:36store and at the restaurant.

01:38That'll do it for your daily briefing

01:40from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:41I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.

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