Outbreak To Thank for Soaring Egg Prices in New York
Many people rely on eggs as a cheap way to get their daily protein intake or to feed a lot of mouths. However, those who consume eggs on a regular basis have noticed that they've been paying a lot more as egg prices have skyrocketed in the last few months.
Recent outbreaks of avian influenza, also called bird flu, have added serious strain to egg supply chains all across the country as birds are getting sick and dying in alarming numbers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that more than 17 million birds have died this year due to the bird flu outbreak and of those 17 million, more than 11 million egg-laying chickens have either died or have had to be destroyed because of the awful flu plaguing birds.
In 2021, the national average price of a dozen eggs in the United States was $1.79 but today, the national average price for a dozen eggs is $2.88 a dozen which is a 53 percent price hike since February 8, 2022, when the USDA first announced it had discovered the bird flu.
According to a document prepared and shared by the USDA on Friday, April 1, 2022, the average price of a dozen eggs, on the low end, in New York was $2.98 a dozen for extra-large eggs, $2.96 for a dozen large eggs, and $2.49 a dozen for medium eggs.
With the national average price for a dozen eggs ringing in at $2.88 a dozen, it brings the price of eggs to more than they were in 2015 when the price of a dozen eggs in the United States peaked at $2.75, the highest price the country saw between the years of 1995 and 2021.
The bird flu isn't just impacting birds and eggs and the American people. The United States is one of the leading producers of eggs in the world along with China, India, and Indonesia. The United States produces over 100 billion eggs each year.
Keep in mind that with the Easter holiday coming up, demand for eggs is expected to surge as it does each year and if that happens, the price of eggs might end up even higher than they already are due to supply and demand issues.