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While the price of eggs was already high from pandemic-induced inflation and price gouging, the price skyrocketed even more due to the bird flu epidemic (and it’s sure to get worse as workers get deported). This is because the standard safety procedure that poultry farms follow when a case of the virus is detected… is to slaughter the entire flock, even (and oftentimes) when a single flock has numbers in the millions. That response seems excessive to me, but I’m neither a farmer nor an epidemiologist, so I’ll defer to the experts. Here are more details on this rotten egg of a situation:
Egg prices will increase by 20% this year: The average price per dozen nationwide hit $4.15 in December. That’s not quite as high as the $4.82 record set two years ago, but the Agriculture Department predicts prices are going to soar another 20% this year. Shoppers in some parts of the country are already paying more than double the average price, or worse, finding empty shelves in their local grocery stores. Organic and cage-free varieties are even more expensive. Some grocery stores have even limited how many eggs shoppers can buy.
Price hikes stem from the 2022 bird flu outbreak: Anytime the virus is found on a poultry farm, the entire flock is slaughtered to help limit the virus’ spread. And with massive egg farms routinely housing more than 1 million chickens, just a few infections can cause a supply crunch. The problem tends to linger because it takes months to dispose of all the carcasses, disinfect barns and bring in new birds. More than 145 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been slaughtered since the current outbreak began, with the vast majority of them being egg-laying chickens.
How bird flu is spreading: Bird flu is primarily spread by wild birds such as ducks and geese as they migrate. While it is fatal to a variety of animals, those species can generally carry it without getting sick, which offers the virus a chance to mutate and thrive. The virus can be spread through droppings or any interaction between farm-raised poultry and wild birds. It’s also easily tracked into a farm on someone’s boots or by vehicle. Unlike previous outbreaks, the one that began in 2022 didn’t die out in high summer temperatures.
Dairy cattle getting infected made things worse: The virus found another new host when dairy cattle started getting sick last March. That creates more opportunities for the virus to linger and spread and unlike poultry, cattle aren’t slaughtered when they get sick because they rarely die from bird flu. More than five dozen people have also become ill with bird flu and one person died since last March. Nearly all of them worked around sick animals.
Biosecurity measures: Many poultry farms installed truck washes to disinfect vehicles entering their property and require workers to shower and change clothes before stepping inside a barn. They have also invested in duplicate sets of tools so nothing used in one barn is shared. Some poultry farmers have even invested in lasers that shoot beams of green light in random patterns to discourage ducks and geese from landing. Dairy farmers isolate any sick cattle and do additional testing before moving animals off the farm.
Farmers & the USDA are also feeling the pinch: “Over the last five years, my small farm alone has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on biosecurity,” said Minnesota turkey farmer Loren Brey. … The U.S. Department of Agriculture has spent at least $1.14 billion compensating farmers for the birds they have had to kill. A similar number wasn’t immediately available for how much has been spent to aid dairies. USDA spokeswoman Shilo Weir said the department also spent more than $576 million on its own response.
Eggs, and more groceries, are way too expensive now. I cosign that statement. That being said, I’m still just utterly baffled by the “logic” that seemingly played out last November: “Eggs cost too much, the Democrats are in the White House right now, therefore I have to vote for Trump so things will change.” So instead of my kingdom for a horse, it’s our democracy for a dozen eggs. But what I got from this article is how much government agencies help out farmers, encouraging them to invest in the best biosecurity practices and in turn, compensating farmers when crises like the bird flu emerge. And as consumers we’re dependent on still more government agencies to track diseases and protect our food supply. Meanwhile this week alone, Trump tried to freeze all federal funding, and the worm operating RFK, Jr.’s brain struggled through two confirmation hearings to run the Department of Health and Human Services. You know, the RFK who loves raw milk. Oh, here’s one more quote from the article that I didn’t excerpt above: “Raw milk is the only food product linked to illnesses so far.” As a country, we really laid an egg.
Eggs in Donald Trump’s America vs Canada. This week. pic.twitter.com/dKjwWVwuvu
— Morgan Cameron Ross (@Morgan_C_Ross) January 29, 2025
Expect record-high egg prices for most of the year https://t.co/LPT18xWkC4
— Mercury News (@mercnews) January 27, 2025