An executive order signed at the White House on September 4, 2026, sends the Department of Agriculture back to review a label that shows up on packages of ground beef and steak in nearly every supermarket in the country. Executive Order 14425, “Supporting America’s Ranchers,” does not change what that label means today. It gives…

Oil turned meaningfully more expensive in August, and the federal government’s own energy statisticians have the number. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the Brent crude oil spot price, the global benchmark that shapes most of what drivers pay at the pump in the United States, averaged $91 a barrel for the month, up…

Every month, one number sums up how much more expensive the last thirty days felt at the pump, the grocery store and the rent bill combined. In August, that number moved mostly because of one thing: gasoline. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest inflation report shows the price of filling up did more to push…

Two executive orders signed the same afternoon are aimed at the same number: 85 percent, the share of the nation’s steers and heifers now bought by the four largest beef packers. Forty years ago that figure was 36 percent, and the jump helps explain why cattle ranchers say they have less leverage at auction even…

Diesel prices are set to climb sharply through the end of 2026, according to the federal government’s latest energy forecast. The U.S. Energy Information Administration now projects that retail diesel will average $5.55 a gallon in the fourth quarter of the year, a jump the agency ties to fuel stockpiles rather than a single price…

Ground beef has been one of the more painful line items at the register this year, and the White House is trying a temporary fix: a 90-day window that lets more imported beef trimmings into the country at a lower tariff rate so processors can blend it with U.S. beef for ground beef. The relief…

Canadian cheese, butter, and a range of Canadian beer, wine, and spirits are set to disappear from the list of goods U.S. importers can legally bring in, once a White House order takes effect at the end of the month. The change follows months of escalating tariff action between Washington and Ottawa, and it means…

Grocery shoppers on food assistance in South Carolina and North Dakota were bracing to lose the ability to buy candy and soda with their benefits within days. Instead, the federal agency that runs the program told both states, plus Ohio, to stand down. The reason traces back to a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., not…

Buying the lower beef grade to save money is a strategy plenty of households lean on, but this week that strategy got a little less rewarding. USDA’s daily wholesale price report shows Select beef jumped $3.51 in a single day to $354.23 per hundred pounds, even as the higher Choice grade slipped. The two prices…

The price the grocery store pays for beef moved again this week, and it’s moving against a backdrop that hasn’t looked this thin in more than six decades. USDA’s daily wholesale report puts the Choice beef cutout at $375.03 per hundred pounds, the level that sets what retailers pay before a steak or roast ever…