• Tomatoes fell 18% and oranges 17% in August, while beef rose 5% and potatoes rose 7%, according to PMBEJD's Household Affordability Index.

• Stats SA data shows farmers are being paid far more for livestock (up 9.3%) than for crops (up 0.9%), which explains the difference.

If your fruit and veg bill dropped this month but your meat and potatoes still cost more, you're not imagining it, and there's a clear reason for it.

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group's August Household Affordability Index found tomatoes fell 18% in price and oranges fell 17%, with carrots, cabbage, green pepper and apples all down 6% to 8%. At the same time, potatoes rose 7%, beef rose 5%, and butternut rose 8%. Onions, fish, peanut butter and brown bread also crept up.

The reason comes down to what farmers themselves are being paid. Stats SA's Producer Price Index for June shows agricultural producer prices rose 4.8% overall, but that number hides a big split: crops and horticulture, the stuff that becomes fruit and vegetables, rose just 0.9%, while live animals and animal products rose 9.3%, ten times faster. When it costs a lot more to raise and sell livestock, that cost gets passed down the chain to the meat and dairy on supermarket shelves. Fruit and vegetable farmers, by contrast, are seeing much smaller price gains, and in some cases, a good harvest simply means more supply and lower prices at the till.

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The practical effect for a household budget: the fruit and veg aisle is offering real relief this month, but the staples many families rely on most, meat, potatoes, basic starches, are still climbing, and likely will keep doing so for as long as livestock producer prices stay far ahead of crop prices.