Why egg prices are starting to decline
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – After months of skyrocketed grocery egg prices, shoppers are finally starting to see relief.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average price for a carton of a dozen white eggs are declining. The data shows the average whole sale price for a dozen large white eggs dropped from about $5.38 to $2.73.
The high prices seen at the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 were evidence of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, which forced farmers to euthanize much, if not all, of their flock, and inflation.
The USDA says, "...over 57 million birds, 300 commercial flocks, and 47 States have been affected," by the avian flu. Because many chickens were euthanized, the egg supply suffered immensely, shocking grocery shoppers and sparking much conversation on social media with memes.
After the death of all the chickens, farmers had to get a new flock of birds to supply the egg demand, which was a big task.
Ron Patterson, Horticulture Educator for the University of Idaho Bonneville County Extension, says it takes about six months for chickens to be able to hatch eggs, and even then, it can be inconsistent for awhile.
With the new flock, these farmers had to wait for their chickens to start producing regularly. This affected the supply to a point it was hard to keep up with consumer demand, hence marking up the price.
But as of Feb. 2023, shoppers are seeing that price drop at the lowest it has been since April 2022. Patterson says that even though the price is trending downward, it's not necessarily going to go back to where it was this time last year costing about $1.08 on average. This has to do with inflation.
