Some of the steepest increases are in the prices of beef and cheese. Julie Garisto (Local Music) Aaron Canart, in risk management and procurement with AgriBeef, the country's ninth-largest beef packer and 10th-largest cattle feeder, tracks the price of cattle and beef's "cut out value" that's the price per pound of a carcass, not the price of consumer cuts of beef. Some of these increases can be attributed to an especially harsh winter, which created a difficult environment in which to...

The minimum price of block cheddar, as well as the prices for liquid milk, butter, dry whey and non-fat dry milk, are determined by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Increases in cheese prices have caused price hikes at national pizza chains such as Papa John's, and they are also taking their toll on local businesses. Charles Frost, who does a lot of the ordering and organizing for Bud's, said the restaurant goes through 600 pounds of cheese a week, with an average of five...

KANSAS CITY (Dow Jones)--Overnight rain in the central and eastern Corn Belt pressured overnight corn futures prices at the Chicago Board of Trade and could open live cattle and feeder cattle futures markets steady to as much as 40 points higher, market analysts and traders said. KANSAS CITY (Dow Jones)--Overnight rain in the central and eastern Corn Belt pressured overnight corn futures prices at the Chicago Board of Trade and could open live cattle and feeder cattle futures markets...

They are: Emily Benedict, representing Carroll County; Sara Michelle Miller, representing the Eastern Shore region; Caitlin Patrick, representing the South Central Region; Kelly Vaughan, representing the Upper Chesapeake region and Erin Canfield, representing Washington County. They are: Emily Benedict, representing Carroll County; Sara Michelle Miller, representing the Eastern Shore region; Caitlin Patrick, representing the South Central Region; Kelly Vaughan, representing the Upper...

Challenges do exist, one of the most significant being the industry's ongoing debate with a range of government agencies to have cheese recognised as a full contributor to a healthy and balanced diet. And there is definitely room for operations such as ourselves, where the total focus is on quality and manufacturing a final product that is totally consistent and which we are proud to stand over. I would concur with all the other suppliers that the local cheese market is growing. This,...

The story in the milk aisle lately -- and at the ice cream shop and most places using dairy products -- has been one of global economic forces at work. It's all factored into the minimum fees that state and federal agencies allow dairy farmers to charge for their products, pushing those rates to unusually high levels. This time around, some of the same factors hitting the dairy industry are affecting other items as well. There's the high fuel rates, the cost of milk bottles and don't even...