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While grocery store prices have largely stabilized, the price of eggs is up 28% over the past year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Experts blame avian flu outbreaks for rising costs.
Amy Barkley
Small farms and beginner farms specialist, CCE
Amy Barkley, a livestock and farm specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, says we should expect fluctuating egg prices for some time.
Barkley says:
“The primary cause for the jump in egg prices is because the nation’s egg farms can’t immediately replenish the number of laying hens euthanized due to the HPAI outbreak. It takes three weeks to hatch laying hen chicks and another 22 weeks or so to raise them before they come into full production. Egg prices will eventually make their way back down so long as we don’t see another huge number of hens lost over a short period like we did earlier this year.
“As we head into the cooler, wetter months of fall, the virus will be more prone to spread in wild bird populations as well as from wild birds to commercial and backyard flocks. Experts agree that our nation will continue to be challenged by HPAI in the immediate future, so consumers should be prepared to see continuing changes in egg prices, both up and down.”
