By Dan Modlin
Murray, KY – Dan Smaldone of the Kentucky farm bureau federation says energy costs are having a significant impact on higher grocery prices. And he says farmers get a relatively small percentage of the food dollar you spend at the check-out counter
"Now a farmer earns about sixteen cents per dollar spent on food. And as recently as 1980 that was as high as thirty-one cents."
Smalldone says food prices in Kentucky did trend downward somewhat near the end of 2011, compared to earlier in the year. However, grocery prices late in the year were still six percent higher than in 2010. Cities across Kentucky are included in the quarterly survey.