Why are eggs so expensive? Prices expected to continue to climb in 2025
During the winter months, chicken egg production naturally slows down and causes prices to rise normally. However, the egg shortage and rising prices come after bouts of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, have decimated the poultry population putting a strain on supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And prices are expected to continue to go up.
The USDA's price outlook predicts egg prices to increase about 20% in 2025, compared to about 2.2% for overall food prices.
Here's a deeper look at what strain of bird flu is harming poultry and more.
A strain of bird flu, H5N1, has raged through coops across the U.S. It originally emerged among poultry flocks and wild birds in Europe in the fall of 2020 before moving to the U.S., Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
This strain of avian flu has grown to become the largest such outbreak in the U.S. causing record-high prices and dwindling supplies in retail markets due to the "significant outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial table egg layer flocks through December," according to the USDA.
An outbreak of a rare strain of bird flu, H5N9, was just reported on a duck farm in California, the World Organization for Animal Health said on Monday, according to Reuters.
More than 136 million poultry producers nationwide since January 2022, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Jan. 17.
As of Jan. 16, outbreaks of the latest strain in Tennessee have been limited to two backyard flocks in the last 30 days, according to the USDA. In the whole U.S,. more than 14.6 million birds have been affected in January so far.
Chicken flocks infected with strains of avian influenza are usually selectively slaughtered across the U.S., sometimes even reaching millions at a single location, according to reports from USA TODAY.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $4.15 in December, up from $3.65 in November and $2.15 in January 2024.
In Tennessee, many communities are seeing the average price, but if you are looking for free-range, organic, cage-free, pasture-raised, or any combination thereof, be ready to shell out even more.
No actually, but it is getting close.
In 2022 and 2023, there were several months when eggs were priced just a bit higher than the average is now. In December 2022, eggs were $4.24, and in January 2023, the United States saw the highest price of eggs at $4.82.
USA TODAY and Jordan Green contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why are egg so expensive? U.S. poultry affected by bird flu H5N1, H5N9
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