Egg prices going up, local farmers trying to stay afloat
AUSTIN, Texas - Food prices are going up at the grocery stores and local farmers are doing what they can to stay afloat.
"Farmers markets are starting to get either right in line or underneath the prices you're seeing at the groceries stores," says Will Vermillion, owner of Vermillion Farms.
Prices of eggs nearly tripled in the past couple of weeks. Local farmer Kris Olsen, owner of Milagro Farms, shared why he had to raise the price to $7 for a carton of eggs.
"Feed has always been my number one cost so in the past year my feed went up over fifty percent so that's the number one reason why I had to raise my prices," said Olsen.
Kaylee Morgan, owner of That Retrohomestead chicken farm, says she purchases her feed six months at a time, so she can sell her eggs at a consistent price.
"We're expecting it to go up more so it's a little bit tricky trying to figure out how much to buy at a time and getting safely stored," Morgan said.
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The outbreak of Avian Flu has a less impact on local farmers.
"I raised the prices because my feed, the cost of packaging, cost of gas to bring my eggs to market," says Olsen.
To get the best price on eggs, many shoppers are reaching out to local vendors.
"We have a private Facebook group and that was at 300 members; a couple of weeks ago it doubled," Morgan said.
However, some egg farmers are not able to keep up with the demand.
"My chickens are outside and they're affected by the sun so every winter my chickens lay less eggs and as the days last longer which they are now I get more eggs every day," says Olsen.