Eggs prices drop, but the threat from avian flu isn’t over yet – By Allison Aubrey (NPR) / Feb 5, 2023
Maybe you’ve seen the funny internet memes about high egg prices? Like the one where a guy gets on his knees to propose, but instead of a ring, he brings out a dozen precious eggs!
Well, egg prices have finally begun to decline. “We’re seeing wholesale prices start to come down,” says David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University. The wholesale price of a dozen eggs in the midwest market dropped by 58 cents to $3.29 a dozen at the end of January, according to USDA data.
There is a lag between a drop in wholesale prices and what we pay at the grocery store, Ortega says, but we can expect some relief soon. I’ve already seen prices fall at my local supermarket.
However, the days of $1.50 a dozen may not return anytime soon. That’s partly because inflation has driven up the cost of feed, transportation and labor. But the biggest factor impacting egg prices is the outbreak of bird flu – highly pathogenic avian influenza (HAPI) – which can spread quickly from flock to flock and is lethal in chickens. The CDC estimates more than 58 million birds have died or been culled because of the current outbreak.
