Grocery prices increased this year with chicken products being the biggest source.

SOUTH BEND — Groceries cost more than they did six months ago, according to Indiana Farm Bureau’s semiannual “market basket” survey.

This year, the average price of the sixteen food items included in the survey totaled $53.32, an increase of $2.14 from the fall of 2014.

Indiana’s average is 82 cents cheaper than the national American Farm Bureau average for the basket, which dropped 12 cents from the spring survey.

Eggs were the biggest contributor to the increase in cost. An outbreak of avian flu this summer led to a loss of 48 million birds nationwide, according to the Indiana State Board of Animal Health. With flocks decimated, the price for a dozen large eggs skyrocketed from $1.86 last fall to $3.08 per dozen in September, according to the bureau survey.

The price of chicken also increased 32 cents to $3.37 per pound.

Other items that rose in price were shredded cheddar cheese, bagged salad, sirloin tip roast, bacon, ground chuck, potatoes and oat cereal.

Not all the items on the list were more expensive, though. Sliced deli ham, vegetable oil, apples, flour, orange juice, whole milk and white bread all dropped in price.

The pork industry has recovered from the effects of the 2013 and 2014 porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. Pork prices dropped more than 8 percent between Aug. 2014 and Aug. 2015.

Source: The South Bend Tribune