Thursday’s business headlines
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Here’s a look at Thursday’s business headlines.
Indiana farms
Indiana has lost 2,000 farms over the last five years – an average of more than 400 a year – as farmers are getting older and farm incomes are shrinking.
This is according to the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture.
The Hoosier state had 56,000 farms in 2017, accounting for 65% of the state’s land but a tiny fraction of its workforce. The average farm size increased by 5 % to 264 acres between 2012 and 2017, with more than 94,000 farmers statewide.
Kroger
Kroger is falling further behind Walmart on low prices.
A study by the investment firm Jefferies says Kroger’s average best price was 14% higher than Walmart’s on a basket of food items.
Grocery stores are fighting over price with Amazon recently cutting prices at Whole Foods.
Spirit Airlines
Spirit isn’t the worst airline anymore.
In the 2019 Airline Quality rating Study, it moved ahead of Frontier and American.
Spirit has improved its on-time performance as it reduced the number of official customer complaints.
China
The U.S. and China trade talks are set to resume April 29.
President Trump said Wednesday that the negotiations were “moving along quite well.”
If talks proceed as hoped, there could be a signing ceremony between the U.S. and China around Memorial Day.