Consumers are feeling the pinch as egg prices reach record highs, a consequence of reduced egg-laying flocks because of the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Industry stakeholders and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are seeking solutions to stabilize the ma rket.
“Prices are at record highs,” said Mark Jekanowski, chairman of the USDA’s World Agricultural Outlook Board. “The daily New York Shell Egg price – off icial USDA egg price –recently passed $8 per dozen.”
The impact of HPAI on poultry and egg supplies is a signif icant concern. “We have experienced repeated HPAI events over about the last 18 months, which have really cut the size of that l ayer flock and not provided an opportunity to rebuild that flock,” Agriculture Department Chief Economist Seth Meyer said during the USDA’s recent Ag Outlook Forum.
USDA Economist Megan Schweitzer expects more price increases. “We’re predicting prices for eggs to increase by 41.1%,” she stated, noting that “the average price of eggs in 2024 was $3.17.”
The reduced layer bird population directly contributes to the supply shortage. “We have lost another 7.4 million layer birds,” Meyer said. “We have lost, since the WASDE [World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate] report, a month and a half of r ebuild, so that will push those higher prices out a little further.”
In response to the crisis, the USDA has unveiled a comprehensive, fivepronged strategy and plans to invest up to $1 billion “ to combat avian flu and reduce egg prices for consumers,” said USDA Chief of Staff Kailee Tkacz Buller.
Components of the strategy include: • Enhanced biosecurity measures for all U.S. poultry producers. “We will begin with the egg layers, but we do hope to get further down the poultry chain,” Buller said.
• Indemnification for producers, “and we will increase that rate based on the fair market value,” she said.
• Discussions about reducing regulatory burdens on egg and poultry producers are being conducted between the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration.
• “We are working closely with our friends at Health & Human Services, with the trade sector and our friends in the po ultry and dairy industry, to explore potential vaccines and potential therapeutic options and other strategies to really protect egg-laying chickens,” Buller said.
• International trade and best practices, addressing temporary egg export and import options. “We will work through that with other countries,” she said.