January 28, 2025
It’s the first time in my life that I’ve ever had to be kind of embarrassed on what I’m selling eggs for. And it’s not our fault.
Manager at Sentyrz Liquor & Supermarket in Minneapolis, Mike Vickers, commenting on the price of eggs as bird flu continues to cause a surge in the costs of eggs for farmers, retailers and consumers alike. The U.S. Agriculture Department expects prices to increase another 20% in 2025.
Why It Matters: Bird flu — a highly contagious virus spread by wild birds like ducks and geese — is the main reason egg prices have increased so much in recent months. As the current bird flu outbreak continues, the price of eggs will likely not go down in the near future (particularly as the Easter egg surge approaches). The average price per dozen in the U.S. hit $4.15 in December.
- The record? Set in 2023 when the average price per dozen hit $4.82.
- Why the increase? When bird flu pops up on a poultry farm, the entire flock must be killed to mitigate the spread of the virus, causing increased costs for farms and a halt in egg production.
- Over 60 people have been diagnosed with bird flu in the past 10 months, with one reported death. While the disease does not appear to spread from person to person, nearly all the infected people worked in the vicinity of sick animals.
Read More: Egg prices are soaring. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon (The Associated Press)
Image Credit: Ksenia / Adobe Stock
by Emily Hooker, based in Texas
