By Amanda Hill

Good news, Texans! On average, food prices are holding steady at the grocery store, according to Texas Farm Bureau‘s Grocery Price Watch survey. Based on the survey’s third-quarter results, Texans paid $44.91—on average—for a basket of 16 staple food items.

Check out the full Grocery Price Watch survey results below, or read TFB’s news release with more information. TFB has been polling grocery prices across Texas each quarter since March 2009.

Texas Farm Bureau Grocery Price Watch

But good news for customers also can mean trouble for farmers.

For example, Texans are paying less in the dairy aisle for products like milk, cheese and ice cream. That’s good news for us—but Texas dairy farmers are feeling the squeeze. With soaring feed costs and low retail prices, the margins for dairy farmers are shrinking.

According to the Texas Association of Dairymen, half of the Central Texas dairy farmers who were in business a decade ago have closed their milking parlors.

Food prices are a tough balance. We all want to save money and feed our families nutritious food. But, as more farmers go out of business, our local food supply shrinks, and prices eventually go up. Just food for thought.

Thank you, Texas farmers, for all that you do—including making it possible to feed our families on a budget.