Packaged Foods & Meats Data: Products, Prices, Recalls, Trade and Demand · Head-to-head
USDA ERS Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System vs USDA ERS Meat Price Spreads
Which packaged foods & meats data: products, prices, recalls, trade and demand data fits your job: USDA ERS Food Availability Data System, or USDA ERS Meat Price Spreads. API, files, or your warehouse. Daily, weekly, or hourly.
USDA ERS Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System
USDA ERS Meat Price Spreads
Coverage, side by side
| USDA ERS Food Availability Data System | USDA ERS Meat Price Spreads | |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic | United States, national level | United States, national averages - regional variation not captured |
| Temporal | Core series 1909 to the present (1909-1989 in Historical tables); loss-adjusted series recent decades with per-file vintages 2015-2025 | Historical monthly file 1970 to present; current files cover the last 6 years, 12 quarters and 24 months |
| Granularity | Annual, national, per commodity - with supply components and carcass/retail/boneless conversions per row | Monthly, national, per measure across three marketing stages (farm / wholesale / retail); 20 named measures |
What each contains
They tie on 2 attributes. Pick by fit, not by loyalty.
| USDA ERS Food Availability Data System | USDA ERS Meat Price Spreads | |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | USDA Economic Research Service | USDA Economic Research Service |
| Subject lens | Annual per-capita food availability (residual disappearance) serving as a national consumption proxy, with loss-adjusted variants | Monthly farm, wholesale and retail prices and the spreads between them, quantifying each stage's capture of the meat dollar |
| Commodity scope | 200+ commodities: red meat (beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton), poultry, fish and shellfish, dairy, eggs, fats and oils, fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts, added sugars | Choice beef, pork and broilers, plus retail prices for specific cuts, turkey, whole chickens, eggs and dairy products |
| Geography | United States, national level | United States, national averages - regional variation not captured |
| Temporal reach | Core series 1909 to the present (1909-1989 in Historical tables); loss-adjusted series recent decades with per-file vintages 2015-2025 | Historical monthly file 1970 to present; current files cover the last 6 years, 12 quarters and 24 months |
| Granularity | Annual, national, per commodity - with supply components and carcass/retail/boneless conversions per row | Monthly, national, per measure across three marketing stages (farm / wholesale / retail); 20 named measures |
| Documented fields | 13 documented fields, verified | 6 documented fields, verified |
| Rubric rating | 9 out of 10 | 9 out of 10 |
| Best for | Long-run per-capita quantity trends, consumption proxies, loss-adjusted edible weight and calories | Current farm-to-retail margins, farmer share of the retail dollar, monthly pass-through dynamics |
Or take both in one feed
Join discipline matters.
Worked example: chart per-capita chicken availability rising decade over decade, then overlay the farm-to-wholesale and wholesale-to-retail broiler spreads to show whether processors or retailers pocketed the growth. One desk, two dictionaries, no forced choice. Or take both in one feed.
API, files, or your warehouse. Daily, weekly, or hourly.
Fair questions
Which dataset covers more commodities?
USDA ERS Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System, by an order of magnitude. It carries availability estimates for more than 200 commodities - red meats, poultry, fish and shellfish, plus dairy, eggs, fats and oils, fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and sweeteners.
Which goes further back in time?
The availability record: its core series runs 1909 to the present, with 1909-1989 held in separate Historical tables.
Do the two datasets report the same kind of numbers?
No, and conflating them breaks models. Availability rows are quantities: pounds per person per year derived as residual disappearance - beginning stocks plus production plus imports minus exports, territory shipments and ending stocks, divided by population. Pounds feed demand models; cents feed margin models.
Which should a protein-industry analyst sample first?
Sample both, pick by fit. Category sizing, long-run consumption trends or loss-adjusted intake estimates start with the availability system.