The largest global avian flu outbreak in recorded history has combined with rising fuel, feed, and packaging prices to produce a national egg scarcity that is expected to worsen.
Eggs are a basic that has been easily (and relatively cheaply) purchased from grocery stores and stockpiled in kitchens for decades, but they have become increasingly difficult to come by or significantly more expensive in recent months.
Bird Flu Worsens Egg Crisis In US
Customers in several businesses around the United States are limited in the number of egg cartons they can purchase.
The outbreak of bird flu, which began last year and has killed millions of birds in a dozen nations worldwide, including poultry and wild birds, is one of the causes of the unexpected shortage.
According to the Department of Agriculture, more than 58 million birds in 47 states have been affected in the United States.
The price of eggs reached a record high in December, pushed by inflation and a severe avian flu outbreak that killed millions of birds in the United States and dozens of other countries across the world, when the average cost for a dozen eggs in US states reached $4.25, up $1.78 from a year earlier.
According to Instacart, a retail startup that offers groceries delivery and pickup in the United States and Canada, the Midwest was the hardest hit.
In the Midwest, the average price for a dozen eggs in December was more than double what it was a year earlier. Iowa saw the most price increase, with a dozen eggs increasing by 153 percent year over year.
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Egg Prices In These States Are At The Highest
Egg prices increased by 137 percent in South Dakota, while consumers in Wisconsin and Minnesota paid 118 percent and 116 percent more for a dozen eggs in December 2021, respectively. The average price of a dozen eggs in Nebraska was 104 percent higher.
However, while these areas experienced the most severe price hikes, eggs remain more expensive in other states, like Hawaii and Florida. In Hawaii, where egg costs increased by 51% in December, a dozen eggs cost $9.73 on average. It was $6.36 in Florida, where prices had risen by 57 percent.
Consumers in Alabama would spend an average of $6.12 a carton, while those in Nevada would pay $6.07 and California $6.05.
Despite experiencing the country’s greatest price increase, Iowa still maintained some of the lowest egg prices, with a dozen eggs costing an average of $4.44 per carton. Only Missouri had lower pricing, with a dozen eggs costing an average of $4.24 in December.
Other states that saw significant price increases nonetheless paid the lowest prices for eggs in the US, including Nebraska ($4.25), Indiana ($4.33), Ohio ($4.49), and Kentucky ($4.41).
Though every state was affected by what has been dubbed “eggflation,” several had substantially lower price rises. In Washington, egg costs increased by only 15%, compared to 153 percent in Iowa. Prices grew by 16% in Oregon, 22% in Alaska, 31% in California, and 36% in Idaho.
Because the expenses of gasoline, shipping, feed, and packaging have risen since the COVID-19 outbreak, egg prices are projected to remain high.
New bird migrations in spring, when the bird flu generally strikes, are also predicted to exacerbate the current outbreak, which has been ongoing since last year and shows no signs of slowing down.
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