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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2022)
A7 B USINESS THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2022 q DOW 30,775.43 -253.88 BRIEFING Oil boost unlikely to help prices The OPEC oil cartel and allied producing na- tions decided Thursday to boost production of crude by an amount that will likely do little to re- lieve high gasoline prices at the pump and ener- gy-fueled inflation plagu- ing the global economy. The increase of 648,000 barrels per day in August still leaves the world thirsty for oil as it rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic and runs up against the in- ability of the 23-member OPEC+ alliance to meet its production quotas. OPEC+, which in- cludes Russia, confirmed the decision from its last meeting. Before that, it had been adding about 432,000 barrels per day monthly to put oil back on the market after cut- ting production dramati- cally during the height of the pandemic. The increase was seen as a gesture largely by OPEC leader Saudi Ara- bia to U.S. President Joe Biden, who soon after- ward planned his first trip to the kingdom as president where oil pro- duction is likely to be a topic next month. Biden, facing political pressure at home, has been urging oil-producing countries to open the taps and help bring down gaso- line prices for American drivers. Gasoline prices world- wide have reached pain- ful highs. In the U.S., they surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time this month before dipping in recent days as global oil prices fell on fears of a recession. q NASDAQ 11,028.74 -149.16 bendbulletin.com/business q S&P 500 3,785.38 -33.45 q 30-YR T-BOND 3.12% -.09 q CRUDE OIL $105.76 -4.02 q GOLD $1,804.10 -9.60 q SILVER $20.28 -.39 p EURO $1.0479 +.0037 FOOD PRICES Cost of July Fourth cookout higher than last year, but farmers aren’t cashing in BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN Capital Press Hosting a party of 10 for a Fourth of July cookout could cost between 11% to 17% more in 2022 than last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation and Wells Fargo. “The impacts to consum- ers are significant,” said Roger Cryan, Farm Bureau chief economist. A Farm Bureau survey found that U.S. consumers feeding a party of 10 will pay $69.68 for Independence Day foods, including cheese- burgers, pork chops, chicken breasts, potato salad, straw- berries and ice cream. The overall cookout cost is up 17%, or about $10, from 2021. A similar survey from Wells Fargo, which analyzed pop- ular Fourth of July food cate- gories, showed an overall 11% cost increase. Higher food prices, how- Individual prices for summer cookout Prices 2022 compared to 2021 2 pounds of ground beef, $11.12 (+36%) 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $8.99 (+33%) 32 ounces of pork & beans, $2.53 (+33%) 3 pounds of center cut pork chops, $15.26 (+31%) 2.5 quarts of fresh-squeezed lemonade, $4.43 (+22%) 2.5 pounds of homemade potato salad, $3.27 (+19%) 8 hamburger buns, $1.93 (+16%) Half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, $5.16 (+10%) 13-ounce bag of chocolate chip cookies, $4.31 (+7%) 2 pints of strawberries, $4.44 (-16%) 1 pound of sliced cheese, $3.53 (-13%) 16-ounce bag of potato chips, $4.71 (-4%) Total: $69.68, up about 17% compared to 2021 Source: American Farm Bureau Federation ever, don’t always mean higher farm profits. “This is not a windfall for farmers and ranchers,” Cryan said. Farmers generally receive a small portion of each dollar spent on food. According to USDA’s “food dollar series,” off-farm costs including mar- keting, processing, wholesal- ing, distribution and retailing account for 84 cents of ev- ery food dollar spent in the United States. About a decade ago, Amer- ican farmers received 17.6 cents of every $1 consumers spent on food. By 2019, that had fallen to 14.6 cents. In June, a USDA statement said “just 14 cents of the food dol- lar go to producers on aver- age.” For years, USDA’s Eco- nomic Research Service has tracked the share of retail food prices that farmers receive by comparing prices consum- ers paid for foods with prices farmers and ranchers received for commodities. Farm shares vary by commodity and fluc- tuate year-to-year. Some com- modities saw the farmers’ share shrink in 2021, accord- ing to USDA. The agency has not yet released complete 2022 data. Chips or potato salad are staples at many summer cook- outs. Farmers in 2021 got 16% of the retail price of potatoes, down from the longtime av- erage of 18%. Lemonade is another popular picnic item. AHOY PILGRIM! Of every retail dollar spent on fresh lemons, farmers in 2021 received 18%, down from the 20% average. The farm share of each re- tail dollar spent on cheddar cheese was 29%, down from the 31% average. The dairy farmers’ share on a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream was 16%, 1% below average. But the food dollar is an imperfect indication of farm profits, as it does not take into account farmers’ input costs. “The farmers’ share (data) is not necessarily super helpful to tell you whether farmers are making money, because it’s more important to them what the actual price is relative to their costs,” said William Hahn, agricultural economist for USDA. “Bottom line, in many cases, the higher prices farmers are being paid aren’t covering the increase in their farm ex- penses,” Cryan said. Crewless, robotic Mayflower ship reaches Plymouth Rock Court declines to hear airline crew rest-break case The U.S. Supreme Court declined Thursday to take up a case involv- ing a state law that gives California-based flight crews more generous meal and rest breaks than required by federal rules. Several Virgin America flight attendants sued to be included under the law, and an appeals court in San Francisco ruled in their favor last year. Alaska Airlines, which bought Virgin America, appealed to the Supreme Court, but the justices declined to take up the matter, leaving the lower court’s ruling in place. The California law re- quires that workers be free from all job duties for 10 minutes every four hours and for a 30-min- ute meal break every five hours. Federal regulations limit flight attendants to a 14-hour work day, but they remain on duty during meal breaks. Air- lines argue that if the California law stands, they will need to add crew members on some flights, which would lead to higher fares. — Bulletin wire reports Marijuana is displayed for sale in a Euflora cannabis dispensary store be- fore April’s Mile High 420 Festival in Denver. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Charles Krupa/AP photo Mayflower Autonomous Ship floats next to the replica of the original Mayflower on Thursday in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The crewless robotic boat retraced the 1620 sea voyage of the Mayflower. Associated Press PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A crewless robotic boat retrac- ing the 1620 sea voyage of the Mayflower has landed near Plymouth Rock. The sleek Mayflower Au- tonomous Ship met with an escort boat as it approached the Massachusetts shoreline Thursday, more than 400 years after its namesake’s his- toric journey from England. It was towed into Plymouth Harbor — per U.S. Coast Guard rules for crewless ves- sels — and docked near a replica of the original May- flower that brought the Pil- grims to America. Piloted by artificial intelli- gence technology, the 50-foot trimaran didn’t have a captain, navigator or any humans on board. The solar-powered ship’s first attempt to cross the At- lantic in 2021 was beset with technical problems, forcing it back to its home port of Plymouth, England — the same place the Pilgrim settlers sailed from in 1620. It set off from the southwest English coast again in April but mechanical difficulties diverted it to Portugal’s Azores islands and then to Canada. “When you don’t have any- body onboard, you obviously can’t do the mechanical, phys- ical fixes that are needed,” said Rob High, a software execu- tive at IBM helping to work on the project. “That’s also part of the learning process.” On Monday, it departed Halifax, Nova Scotia for a suc- cessful four-day journey to Plymouth Harbor. Nonprofit marine research organization ProMare worked with IBM to build the ship and has been using it to col- lect data about whales, mi- croplastics pollution and for other scientific research. Small autonomous experimental vessels have crossed the Atlan- tic before but researchers de- scribe it as the first ship of its size to do so. The voyage’s completion “means we can start ana- lyzing data from the ship’s journey” and dig into the AI system’s performance, High said. He said the prospect of such crewless vessels navigat- ing the seas on a continuous basis will make it easier to collect “all the kinds of things that marine scientists care about.” Cannabis industry prepares for tough times BY MEGAN ULU-LANI BOYANTON The Denver Post Colorado’s cannabis industry is preparing for tough times as marijuana sales drop and eco- nomic problems pile up. During the COVID-19 pan- demic lockdowns, weed busi- nesses serviced consumers eager to stock up on their favorite edi- bles, concentrates and pre-rolls. That high has since given way to a low for the industry, as less consumer spending means sales are falling in the recreational and medical markets, according to Headset, which provides insights into cannabis consumer trends. In Colorado, total sales for marijuana stood at $153 million in April — a 26% decrease com- pared to about $206 million sold that month last year, according to the Marijuana Industry Group, the trade association for the state’s cannabis industry. On top of that, the cannabis industry has to contend with the looming U.S. recession, hurdles around profitability, supply-chain problems and weakening flower prices. And the downward spiral isn’t restricted to Colorado busi- nesses — it’s a nationwide chal- lenge, said Aaron Smith, CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Association. “Obviously, the inflation factor is happening everywhere,” he said, pointing to some cannabis users who are “probably cutting down on consumption because they’re having a hard time making ends meet or paying their bills.” “I don’t have a crystal ball,” he said, but “I don’t see the legal can- nabis market going away by any means.”
