By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON D.C. — The cost of an average meal this spring nationwide was up just slightly, but for eggs particularly, the Easter Bunny and consumers have had to dig deeper into their pockets.

The biggest reason given for the uptick in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) annual Spring Picnic Marketbasket Survey was a 37 percent increase in what consumers paid for eggs over a year ago. John Newton, AFBF’s director of market intelligence, blamed lower supplies in the United States for the sharp price jump.

“U.S. egg exports were up nearly 50 percent in 2017, while egg production remained flat,” he said.

Newton explained one reason for the rise in exports was an outbreak of avian influenza in South Korea. Last year’s outbreak caused a shortage of eggs there, which lifted a ban on imports of poultry and eggs from the U.S. in order to meet consumer demand.

The AFBF survey revealed the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $51.05, an increase of $1.02 from the previous year. Of those 16 items, nine increased and seven decreased in average price.

According to the survey, a 7.5 percent hike in the retail cost of orange juice had the next-largest impact on the total marketbasket cost, followed by price jumps of 4 percent for bagged salad and 3 percent for deli ham.

There were also 2 percent increases in the retail price of ground chuck, bacon, sirloin tip roast, shredded cheddar cheese and vegetable oil.

The largest price declines were 7 percent for white bread and 6 percent for whole milk. Prices also dropped 2 percent for chicken breast and toasted oat cereal and 1 percent or less for apples, flour and potatoes.

The results were both similar and very different in places like Indiana and Kentucky, where state Farm Bureaus released their own marketbasket studies. In Indiana, the average cost of a meal with the same number of food items for 10 individuals this spring was $46.72 – that was up slightly from last year but 13 percent less than 2016, INFB noted.

Deli ham, bacon and apples were down 10-20 percent in retail cost, while the biggest price hike by percentage in the state was on chicken breast, up 69 cents to $3.28 a pound.

“Most of the food items that saw an increase, while significant compared to 2017, are quite steady when compared to 2016,” said Isabella Chism, INFB’s second vice president. “For example, a dozen eggs increased by 40 cents when compared to 2017, but this year’s price remains 64 cents cheaper than two years ago.”

In Kentucky, the total price of 40 food items came to $115.67, an increase of just 0.25 percent from this time last year. The KFB survey also showed first-quarter increases in 2018 in the state were led by price hikes of 2.5-6.2 percent for beef, pork and fruits and vegetables.

Despite a gradual increase in grocery prices over time, AFBF pointed out the share of every food dollar farmers and ranchers receive on average in the United States has dropped from about one-third in the mid-1970s to less than 15 percent now.

According to the USDA, Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable yearly income on food, the lowest of any country in the world.