Egg prices are finally starting to fall in Wisconsin. Will it last?
Though egg prices in the Midwest and nationally are finally starting to tick back down, grocery prices are still higher across the board compared to a year ago.
Between March and April, the national average price for Grade A eggs decreased by 12.7% to $5.12 per dozen according to the latest consumer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Though that's the first month-to-month decline since October 2024, egg prices are still far below pre-avian flu levels of under $2 a dozen. In March, the average price for a dozen eggs hit $6.23 — the highest in at least 20 years.
Still, bolstered by the dip in egg prices, the national average price for meat, poultry, fish and eggs overall also decreased by 0.9% between March and April. In the Midwest, meat, poultry, fish and eggs prices declined by 0.7% — though both national and Midwest prices in this category are still about 7% higher than a year ago.
Here's how other grocery prices shifted in Midwest last month.
Though the price of nonalcoholic beverages rose by 0.8% in the Midwest, prices decreased across all of the other major grocery categories, according to the consumer price index:
Cereal and bakery product prices fell by 1.5%
Meat, poultry, fish and egg prices fell by 0.7%
Dairy and related product prices fell by 1.2%
Fruit and vegetable prices fell by 0.3%
The overall price of groceries the Midwest decreased by 0.6% between March and April. That's a shift from the 0.2% increase between February and March, but prices are still 2.4% higher than a year ago.
Egg prices across the U.S. have been rocketing since 2022, primarily due to a nationwide avian flu outbreak that has have killed millions of hens and triggered widespread egg shortages. As of April 7, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection had detected avian influenza in commercial poultry flocks in Burnett and Barron counties and backyard flocks in Kenosha and Sheboygan counties.
Though bird flu detections "eased significantly in March," the U.S. Department of Agriculture still predicted egg prices may rise as much as 54.6% throughout 2025 in an April report.
Still, if bird flu cases remain relatively low, the price decrease could hold in the coming months, according to USA TODAY. In March, University of Wisconsin-Extension poultry specialist Ron Kean also told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he expected egg prices to start declining after Easter.
"As we hit warmer weather, it's a little less baking going on, and people are maybe not eating as heavy breakfasts, so usually demand will go down as we get into the spring," Kean said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin egg prices dip slightly in April 2025
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