A cornerstone of Easter fun involves sitting around the table with the kiddos, dyeing eggs into vibrant pastels and using markers to create myriad designs on them. For families headed out to pick up a dozen for that family activity, all signs point to them paying higher prices for eggs than they did just a couple of months ago.
However, the good news for consumers is that, in most cases, prices are down — in some cases significantly — compared to where they were for Easter last year.
Louisiana Farm Bureau, for example, is reporting that eggs this year are coming in at $2.71 a dozen, while last year they were $4.17. Still, the current price is considerably higher than it was in January.
Michigan has been reporting similar trends.
“Right now, the consumer price index for eggs is down about 17 percent from where we were last year,” American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Bernt Nelson told TV station WLUC. “We’re looking at prices in the ballpark of $2 a dozen, $2.24 per dozen.”
While this is good news for consumers in these states, not everyone is being impacted in that way. One state that’s somewhat of a pricing outlier is Texas.
AgriLife Extension economist David Anderson noted that last Easter in Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that eggs retailed for $2.74 per dozen but that consumers can expect them to be around $2.99 per dozen this year.
He expects the cost of eggs to decline in Texas after Easter, but if demand isn’t as strong as expected, stores may drop prices closer to Easter.
“We’re actually producing more eggs than we did a year ago, but eggs have a seasonal pattern to them,” Anderson said, “And with Easter being earlier than usual this year, we’re also seeing prices rise earlier than we typically would.”
While holiday demand is certainly a key driver of egg prices this time of year, other usual factors include bird flu cases, the cost of labor, and the high price of chicken feed.