The egg Prices are on the rise again in the United States as outbreaks of Bird flu The holiday baking season coincides with high demand.
But prices are still far from the recent peak reached nearly two years ago. And the American Egg Board, a trade group, says egg shortages at grocery stores have so far been isolated and temporary.
“They are being corrected quickly, sometimes within a day,” said Emily Matz, president and chief executive officer of the Egg Board.
Average price for a dozen Eggs According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it was $3.37 in U.S. cities in October. That was down slightly from September, and significantly down from January 2023, when the average price rose to $4.82. But that’s up 63 percent since October 2020, when the average price for a dozen eggs was $2.07.
Metz said the egg industry sees its highest demand in November and December.
“You can’t have your holiday baking, your pumpkin pie, your stuff without eggs,” she said.
Avian influenza is the main reason for the increase in prices. The current bird flu epidemic that began in February 2022 has killed more than 111 million birds, mostly egg-laying hens. Whenever the virus is detected, every bird on the farm is culled to limit the spread of the disease.
More than 6 million birds have been slaughtered this month alone due to bird flu. They were a relatively small part of the total American flock of 377 million egg-laying hens. Still, the flock is down about 3 percent over the past year, leading to a 4 percent drop in egg production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The latest wave of bird flu is disrupting the supply of cage-free eggs as California is among the hardest hit states. California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon all require eggs sold in their states to be cage-free.
“We’re having to move eggs from other areas of the country that are producing cage-free to make up for this short supply in these states, because those states only allow the sale of cage-free eggs,” Metz said. ” said Metz.
Cage-free requirements are set to go into effect next year in Arizona, Colorado and Michigan, and in 2030 in Rhode Island and Utah.
The demand for such specialty eggs may also contribute to avian flu, which is spread by droppings from wild birds as they migrate from previous farms. Allowing chickens to roam more freely puts them at greater risk, said Iowa State University professor and agricultural economist Chad Hart.
This interaction between domesticated birds and wild birds is really difficult to control, Hart said. “Some of these vectors have been opened up because we’re asking the egg industry to produce in ways that we haven’t asked them to before.”
Climate change and extreme weather are also driving some wild birds, Metz said.
“We have birds that have been displaced by hurricanes, wildfires, and those birds are now circulating in areas where they wouldn’t otherwise circulate or times of the year and they’re otherwise Can’t circulate,” he said. All new variables that our farmers have to deal with.
Hart said the egg industry is trying to rebuild flocks, but that could also limit supply, as farmers have to keep some eggs back to hatch new hens.
Still, there is some good news on American poultry farms. Hart said the cost of chicken feed – which accounts for 70 percent of farmers’ costs – has fallen significantly after doubling between 2020 and 2022.