Eggs from Local SE Minnesota Farmers Cost the Same as Buying from the Store
Egg prices are absolutely nuts right now. I never buy many eggs but I'm pretty sure in the past I'd be able to get my usual 6-pack of eggs for a little over a dollar. Now I'm spending over $3 on the same amount and the same brand. It's crazy. But I recently learned that the cost to buy local eggs from farmers in southeast Minnesota costs about the same as buying them from a big grocery store.
Ummm... yeah, you tell me what you'd rather do. Whenever I need eggs next, I definitely plan to get them from a local farmer now. To further prove that local eggs are the way to go, let's break down the math, thanks to a Facebook post shared by the Rochester Farmers Market.
The post was originally made by Jeremy Kelly and then was shared by the Rochester Farmers Market with their own thoughts. Jeremy's post breaks down the cost of raising hens:
PER HEN ...Total $30 for a chick to 7 months old hen7 months on for 2 years (prime laying) per hen2lbs feed per week X 52 weeks a year for 2 years = 208 lbs fed.208 lbs / by 50lb (per bag) = 4.16 bags fed4.16 bags X $21.80 = $90.69 worth of feed$90.69 + $30= $120.69 totalLet’s pretend the chicken for two years produce 400 eggs… average depends on breed.$120.69/400= $.3017$.3017 X 12 = $3.62 PER DOZEN
Let's say you spend $5 per dozen for local eggs, that way the farmer makes some money in the process. Well, after checking a few big-name grocery store websites, the cost for the least expensive dozen eggs available (which are farmed in a factory) ranges from $4.49, to $4.69, to $3.99, to $4.99.
As the Rochester Farmers Market points out, "If you’re paying $4.99-$8.99 for factory farmed eggs in the store, your money goes to that company.. wouldn’t you rather spend that money on eggs from a local farmer who can tell you when they were picked and where they are from?"
In Rochester, I know there's a farm called Tomte Grove. They sell a dozen eggs for $5 and in order to purchase them you have to contact them to set up a time to pick them up. Or there's, of course, the Rochester Farmers Market. In the winter they do them on Saturdays at Graham Park in buildings 35 and 31. The upcoming farmers market dates are January 21st, February 4th and 18th, March 4th and 18th, and April 1st, 15, and 29th.
