OMAHA, Neb. — OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Egg costs reached a report excessive within the U.S. final month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
The most recent month-to-month shopper value index confirmed what customers, bakers and meals firms already knew: an ongoing hen flu outbreak that started in 2022 are making eggs terribly costly proper now.
The common value of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. cities reached $4.95 in January, eclipsing the earlier report of $4.82 set two years earlier and greater than double the latest low of $2.04 that was recorded in August 2023.
In fact, that’s solely the nationwide common. A carton of eggs can price $10 or extra in some locations. And specialised varieties, similar to natural and cage-free eggs, are much more costly.
Costs are solely going to worsen. Costs all the time spike round Easter yearly as a result of demand is excessive across the vacation. The U.S. Division of Agriculture predicted final month that egg costs have been more likely to go up 20% this 12 months.
And even when customers can afford eggs, it may be laborious to seek out them at instances as some shops have hassle conserving their cabinets stocked. Some grocers have imposed limits on what number of eggs clients can purchase at a time.
The primary purpose that eggs are costlier is the hen flu outbreak. When the virus is discovered on a farm, your complete flock is killed to restrict the unfold of illness. As a result of huge egg farms could have thousands and thousands of birds, only one outbreak could put a dent within the egg provide.
The Agriculture Division says greater than 23 million birds have been slaughtered final month and greater than 18 million have been killed in December to restrict the unfold of the hen flu virus. These numbers embrace turkeys and chickens raised for meat, however the overwhelming majority of them have been egg-laying chickens.
Egg farmers additionally face greater feed, gas and labor prices as of late due to inflation. Plus, farmers are investing extra in biosecurity measured to attempt to defend their birds.
Ten states have handed legal guidelines permitting the sale of eggs solely from cage-free environments. The provision of these eggs is tighter and targeted in sure areas, so the impact on costs might be magnified when outbreaks hit cage-free egg farms.
Most of the egg farms with outbreaks have been cage-free farms in California. Cage-free egg legal guidelines have already gone into impact in California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Michigan.