Why Are Egg Prices So High in Louisiana?
You might struggle to find eggs in grocery stores across Louisiana and when you do find them, get ready to pay a premium.
Why Are Prices So High?
Egg prices are skyrocketing across the nation. One of the big problems is a bird flu outbreak. A dozen eggs will set you back more than $3.50 a dozen on average. That price is up 50% from a year ago and it looks like the prices could go even higher.
Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says a bird flu outbreak is the main reason why eggs are still expensive, but the industry is also facing increased production costs and supply chain issues.
When Will Egg Prices Go Down?
Strain says he does not expect to see the prices drop until we see some relief from inflation. He says high costs for transportation, fertilizer and energy are also have a negative impact on the supply of eggs.
New data from Fox Business says egg prices are the highest in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico where the average price is over $3.64 a dozen. That's a 64% increase from a year ago. Egg prices in California, Oregon and Washington have seen an increase of about 18%.
The latest price for a dozen of eggs in Louisiana is closing in on $4.00 a dozen. Residents in New York says they are paying $11.00 a dozen for eggs.
Will the High Price Impact Consumption?
Americans eat 95 million eggs each year, but that number is likely to drop as folks decide to skip eggs while shopping for groceries when they spot the prices in the grocery cooler. Prices are expected to stay high, but the experts say we could see the prices slowly start to fall this spring.