By relaxing the rule, Nevada might get access to additional eggs, but the supply of all eggs remains tight because nearly 159 million birds have been slaughtered since the bird flu outbreak began in 2022 to help limit virus spread.
University of Arkansas agricultural economist Jada Thompson said opening up Nevada to all kinds of eggs “could ease egg prices in Nevada very slightly,” but that it might make prices worse elsewhere because supplies are so tight.
Now four years later, a dozen eggs costs an average of nearly $5 in the U.S. because of the lingering bird flu, so Nevada passed a law the governor signed Thursday that will allow the state to suspend that law temporarily in hopes of getting residents some relief at the checkout counter.
Even as more egg farmers were converting to cage-free setups over the past decade, prices stayed between $1.40 and $2 per dozen most of the time with only the normal seasonal price spikes around Easter and Thanksgiving until this current bird flu outbreak began in early 2022.
It is not clear dropping cage-free laws will have a significant effect on egg prices that have peaked at an average of $4.95 per dozen because the farmers who collectively invested several billion dollars in making the switch can’t easily go back to raising chickens packed together in massive barns that they already spent the money to convert.
