Egg prices soar as bird flu takes toll on US hen flock
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Average price of eggs rose nearly 30 cents since October, with egg production down 4% from prior year. The accelerating spread of bird flu through US poultry flocks is pushing the price of eggs to highs rivaling or exceeding the cost in December 2022 at the height of the post-pandemic inflation scare.
The average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $3.65 in November, up from $3.37 in October, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week, up from $2.50 at the start of the year, as farmers battle with a fatal strain of H5N1 that continues to disrupt the US egg supply.
The US egg-laying hen flock was down 3% in October from the year prior, or 315m birds, and egg production was down 4%, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The latest consumer price index, or CPI, shows that the price of eggs is up 37.5% from a year ago. Food prices overall rose 2.4% over the same period.
The price hike comes as shoppers stock up for the holidays, and because flocks of egg-laying hens are smaller because producers haven’t recovered from losses to bird flu over the past two years. Wholesale prices for large eggs reached $5.57 a dozen in the midwest on Wednesday, up 150% from a year ago and topping the previous record of $5.46 from December 2022, commodity data firm Expana said.
