Many Iowans will celebrate Easter this weekend by dunking eggs in colored dye and hiding them for young ones to find and place in their baskets. Katie Coyle, spokeswoman for the Iowa Poultry Association, says it’s one the busiest weekends of the year for Iowa’s egg producers. “We see an increase in egg sales during this time of year because people are decorating them as Easter eggs,” Coyle says. “When people are out purchasing their groceries, we always say grab an extra dozen.”
Coyle says Easter is also the kickoff leading into May which is National Egg Month. Iowa egg producers have some 60-million laying hens producing nearly 15-billion eggs each year. Iowa is the nation’s number-one egg producer, she says, by far. “Just hands down, there isn’t really any competition,” Coyle says. “The number-two and -three states still don’t produce as many eggs as Iowa combined. It’s a great month for us to get out the message about eggs and the importance of them to the Iowa economy.”
Iowa’s egg industry contributes about $2 billion in total sales to the state’s economy and is responsible for nearly 8,000 jobs. Coyle says eggs are very nutritious and are basically a multi-vitamin in a shell.
(Reporting by Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton)