Egg prices in the United States have suddenly risen in the past few weeks. Experts say that the occurrence of bird influenza is more likely to climb, as it destroys herds throughout the country.
Bird flu has been in the United States since 2022, but the largest outbreak has begun in October, and it still affects millions of chickens. According to data from the US Ministry of Agriculture (USDA), about 14.7 million chickens, which have been affected by bird flu from the beginning of January, exceeding the number of chickens affected in 2023, the influence of bird flu. I have received.
“Based on the amount of birds we have lost in the past few months and the population of chicken, there is not enough production to support the demand we have,” said the egg management director. Karin Lisca Poli said. Price tracking company EXPANA. “We are now at the time we are really short.”
According to USDA, the number of table eggs produced in December decreased by 4.5 % compared to the same period of the previous year. As the number of male chicken infected with bird flu increases in January, the number of eggs will probably continue to decrease.
Bird flu continues to live longer than the broiler chicken used in meat, so it affects the chicken that produces the eggs on the table and makes it easier to infect a lifetime. The US Disease Management Prevention Center states that bird influenza human infections are rare.
The wholesale price of many large eggs is 40 cents a week because farmers are struggling to produce enough eggs to catch up with demand. As of January 24, a large dolled egg wholesale price was $ 7.24 in New York, $ 6.84 in the midwest, and $ 8.35 in California.
However, consumers often pay different prices at stores. Many grocery stores sell eggs at a lower price than wholesale costs, and they are lost to guarantee that customers will return to the store for other items. The average wholesale price in mid -January was about $ 5.80, but the average price of the eggs at the store was slightly higher than $ 4, rising from about $ 2.50 a year ago.
Nevertheless, people are starting to rise in some stores. Social media videos show that people were shocked by watching a $ 15 egg carton. “You need to start resale,” one Tiktok user is joking in the video.
The rise in egg prices affects restaurants and bakery shops.
“We are known in Macaroons, France … and these large stuffed cookies filled with cheesecake and Nutella -all items with many eggs, Ella, Santa Cruz, California. The bakery uses about 800 eggs a week for the dessert. 60 eggs cost about $ 13 for business, but in the past few weeks, the price reached up to $ 19.
“I’m making the margin much smaller,” said Crawford and added that it was difficult to raise customer prices. “People are used to paying a certain price.”
Many Americans are reading the price labels of egg shelves in grocery store, so you may feel the feeling of DEJA VU. Egg prices were shot in December 2022 after the early occurrence of bird flu, but returned after the demand was cooled down after the holiday season.
However, the price has not yet fallen this year. “Retail demand in January has not given up so much,” Liscory said. People say, “As the egg price has risen, it is not actually functioning as a deterrent.”
It will be difficult to end the occurrence of the current bird flu. Egg producers have been lobbying in the federal government to provide funds to vaccine research and bio security to deal with the outbreak. Viruses can spread from wild birds to home chicken, and it is known that the disease spreads from the contact between birds and birds, but scientists are still unknown whether the infection is in the air.
If a single chicken in the flock is infected, the whole flock is exposed to the risk of infection. New chicks can take up to one and a half years. In other words, it is unknown when the number of chickens that produces eggs return to the normal level.
Egg prices may be a sticky political point when Donald Trump and Republican majority return to Washington. When a reporter asked the White House spokeswoman Caroline Ribit about the rise in egg costs on Wednesday, Levit blamed the Biden administration at a high price.
“This is why it is very important why the Senate moves quickly to confirm all the candidates for President Trump,” she said.
