As the U.S. economy pulls out of a pandemic-induced recession, the specter of inflation has reared its head. Wednesday the Federal Reserve hiked its expectations for inflation this year and signaled that it would move up the timetable for raising interest rates. All of this has great implications for the livestock and animal feed sectors, from the increased cost of inputs and materials to an increased cost of capital.

Last week at World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, we sat down with Jayson Lusk, a distinguished professor and Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, to get an economist’s take on how worrisome inflation is to the industry at this point. Dr. Lusk also shared his view of what macroeconomic factors he’s watching as the economy fully reopens moving into the second half of the year.

This episode is sponsored by CENTRAL LIFE SCIENCES. Get control of flies on your dairy operation with an integrated pest management program built around ClariFly Larvicide and Starbar Products from Central Life Sciences. ClariFly Larvicide offers feed-through control that prevents the emergence of nuisance flies from the manure of treated animals by as much as 96%, and Starbar features a lineup of baits, traps and sprays that address fly problems in all areas of your dairy operation. Flies can spread disease and lead to decreases in milk quality and yields. Learn how to limit their impact at centralflycontrol.com.