As developed by ERS, the LMIC database of meat scanner prices contains monthly average retail price data for selected cuts of red meat and poultry and is based on electronic supermarket scanner data. While not based on a random sample, the raw data underlying the database are from supermarkets across the United States that account for approximately 20 percent of U.S. supermarket sales. The variables reported are weighted-average price, an index of volume sold, and the percent of volume sold under feature (discounts offered to consumers through retailers' weekly feature advertisements) for selected cuts and aggregate categories of beef, pork, poultry, lamb, and veal. Users can access the data in two ways: summary tables and a searchable database from which custom tables can be developed.

The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 mandates collection of these data, and reflects in part concerns about the effects of industry concentration on prices and reduced bargaining power of independent livestock producers. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects retail prices on some of the same cuts of meat, the LMIC scanner data set is unique in that it includes price data on more cuts, information on volume sold, and the discount effects of featuring. ERS presently uses BLS prices to calculate price spreads from farm to wholesale and from farm to retail. However, users can compute alternative price spreads using the meat retail scanner price data.

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