Egg prices are back on the rise as a devastating bird flu outbreak and swelling consumer demand eats into supply.
Wholesale egg prices surpassed about $3 per dozen in August, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from the usual $1 to $2 range. Retail egg prices were up 19% in August compared to last year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data, while the broader grocery category increased only 1%.
highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, has forced egg supplies to be “less robust than normal.” At the same time, U.S. sales have jumped to levels not seen since the pandemic.
Despite the price fluctuations, consumers continue to buy eggs — and more of them, as of the last few months. August egg sales were up more than 5% compared to 2023, and producers sold 237 million eggs in the most recent four-week period. “We haven’t seen that number since the first year of COVID,” he said, when sales soared as consumers stocked up on staples including eggs and toilet paper.
As domestic demand stays strong, other countries are also buying more U.S. eggs. According to the U.S. Egg Export Council, total exports for the first four months of the year increased by 22% to 63.5 million dozen eggs, though values were down 22%.
Demand is expected to rise further during the fall and winter months with the holiday baking season entering full swing. That could further pressure the commercial egg supply, especially as bird flu also spreads more easily in colder climates.
You don’t need even near the amount of male hatchlings that get produced for reproductive purposes. The vast majority of male chicks on egg farms get ground up.
Also, from an animal rights standpoint, “hey we don’t kill all of them, we need some males in order to subjugate their offspring to cruel conditions!” is more of an argument against egg farming than for it.
It’s why I have my own chickens. When they don’t lay eggs, we let them live until they die or get sick. Fun fact: a chicken can eat up to 80 ticks an hour! And their poop is excellent manure for apples and pears.
I mean from an animal rights standpoint, I’d say focus on the factory farming of eggs over what might happen to chicks.
What happens to chicks is an intrinsic part of egg farming, though.