Egg prices are the center or yolk of the latest political ruckus. Democrats are egging on President Trump to lower the cost of a carton of a dozen Grade A large eggs as prices, adjusted for inflation, reached a 45-year high this week. Democrat surrogates have flocked to social media to hen peck at the issue.
"I had to dip into my 401K to buy a carton of eggs," one woman posted. Another said: "Instead of cutting the government, cut egg prices." Others clucked: "The Powerball is up to 4 dozen eggs." "Broke an egg this morning. My insurance company is sending an adjuster."
You get the drift. Donald Trump has single handedly jacked up egg prices to pay off his billionaire cronies. This is what passes as Washington political theater. Twenty-one Democrat lawmakers dispatched a letter accusing Trump of "largely ignoring" the problem in his first three weeks in office.
The letter demands Trump "lower food prices by encouraging competition and fighting price gouging at each level of the food supply chain." The lawmakers, marshaled by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, pledged to work with the president to make eggs a great bargain again.
Democrats are the ones with egg on their faces if they believe Trump is responsible for surging egg prices. They need to leave their cozy Washington nest and visit chicken farms in America.
Egg prices are skyrocketing because of a nationwide outbreak of avian influenza. The virus occurs naturally among wild aquatic birds (think ducks) worldwide. These migrating birds infect domestic poultry. The highly contagious influenza spreads quickly among caged chickens.
Euthanizing flocks is the best option to combat the spread. More than 150 million chickens have been killed in all 50 states to halt the virus since 2022, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA).This is the largest outbreak in the United States since 2015.
Even more worrisome, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports there have been bird flu detections in dairy cattle, including cows in Arizona. Although rare, there have been 68 human cases, including one confirmed death. CDC says the source of the human infections is unidentified.
As culling accelerates, egg prices have soared 53% since January of last year. This past month prices for a carton of Grade A large eggs leapfrogged another 15%. The national average price for a dozen eggs in January was $4.95. That eclipses the record set in January 2023, when the price was $4.82.
Although prices are climbing, the demand has not slackened because high-protein eggs are considered a staple in most households. The average American eats 284 eggs a year, an increase from last year's total of 281. (Per capita consumption is a measure of total egg production divided by the population.)
There is little relief in sight for the American consumer. In November, seven million chickens were destroyed. By last December, the number jumped to 18 million and rose to 23 million in January. Despite the culling of infected chickens, the virus has been advancing like a Bataan Death March.
Most egg-laying farms maintain fewer than 100 chickens, but large producers house upwards of 100,000. Broiler farms, which bred chickens for meat, range in size from 40,000 chickens to more than 500,000. Once infections are detected, the safest course to euthanize the entire flock.
Eggs Unlimited Vice President Brian Moscogiuri offers this perspective on the egg crisis. "In the last few months alone, since the middle of October, we've lost 45 million egg-laying hens. We've lost a significant amount of production, more than 13%."
Eggs Unlimited is one of the largest international supplier of eggs. The firm ships eggs to major retailers, distributors and food service companies. "For consumers, (we're) trying to limit their impact with the pricing and the supply chain shortages we're seeing right now," Moscogirui says.
Just this year about one-in-12 caged hens have been culled. Considering lifecycles, it takes about five months before hens begin laying eggs. By comparison, chickens raised for meat are ready for slaughter after a month-and-a-half.
With Easter on the horizon, the demand for eggs likely will shoot up. Some grocery stores are already limiting the number of cartons customers can purchase. In a sign of the times, earlier this month 100,000 organic eggs worth an estimated $40,000 were stolen from a facility in Pennsylvania.
Consumers best hope are egg farmers. There are 48,952 businesses engaged in chicken egg production, centered in just ten states, accounting for 65% of the egg output. These small and large farms produced about 109 billion eggs in 2023, the latest year for which figures are available.
America's chicken egg-laying farms have dealt with adversity before and managed each time to scramble to restart production. They will deliver again to consumers who will no longer have to walk on egg shells when they search for egg cartons at the grocery store.
