The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) will host a live “Meet the Expert” conversation on Tuesday, July 7 at 12 p.m. CT with Dr. David L. Ortega, Professor and Noel W. Stuckman Chair in Food Economics and Policy at Michigan State University and recipient of the 2025 Borlaug CAST Communication Award. The session will stream live on YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn and is free and open to the public.
Food prices have moved sharply in 2026. The Consumer Price Index showed overall inflation reaching a three-year high of 3.8% by April, driven in part by food costs, and grocery prices rose 0.7% in April — the largest single-month increase in nearly four years. The USDA’s Economic Research Service has raised its 2026 forecast for “food at home” prices to a 3.1% increase, nearly double its initial-year projection.
Several pressures are converging at once. Tariffs continue to add costs across the food supply chain — Ortega has described them as “hidden taxes” that consumers don’t see on a receipt but feel through higher prices on items including coffee (up nearly 20% over the past year), ground beef (up more than 15%), bananas, canned goods and tomatoes. The 2026 conflict involving Iran and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz pushed up fuel costs, with diesel and fertilizer prices reported up 20-40% since the war began. At the same time, drought conditions affecting most of the Lower 48 states have contributed to the smallest U.S. cattle herd in 75 years and record beef prices.
In this Meet the Expert session, Ortega will walk through how these forces interact, what the data suggests about where food prices may be headed in the second half of 2026, and how he approaches explaining that complexity to a general audience — drawing on his experience with more than 400 media appearances in outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and PBS NewsHour.
The session is free and open to the public — no registration required. Watch live: https://www.youtube.com/live/cX-zxaDf1r4 (also streaming on Facebook and LinkedIn)
