Buying eggs in the grocery store has become a large headache for consumers, with the average price of dozens of large eggs in a model American city of $ 4.95 last month. Since the beginning of 2020, The cost of eggs It increased by approximately 240 percent, according to data from the American Labor Statistics Office. Recently, getting EGGS has become a lucky game – where shoppers find barren, barren cases and borders on the number of cartons they can buy in the grocery store. It has become very difficult to get an essential element in the kitchen Steal 100,000 eggs $ 40,000 – from a distribution trailer in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
President Donald Trump managed his campaign to re -election, among other things, promise To reduce grocery cost. But in the first two months of 2025, the prices of eggs continued to rise, and to send government officials in search of answers and interventions.
Jay Rosen, a Senate Member of Nevada, urged Trump’s Minister of Agriculture this month An investigation if egg producers complain about prices. Administration officials, such as Kevin Haysit, director of the National Economic Council, have The problem was linked to the policies of the Biden era The finger indicated inflation. But the high prices of eggs are more complicated than this. The cause of most inflation over the past few years has been a mixture of supply chain disorders, high demand, labor deficiency, ClimateAnd financial policy. But the high cost of eggs today was first, by the spread of bird flu on American farms.
the The outbreak of the current bird flu In the United States, it was first registered by US officials in 2022. There are different breeds of bird flu naturally in the wilderness, and when ducks, geese, juices, robys, and other birds that carry the disease throughout the country are evaded, they bring The virus is with them and spread them to other birds – including poultry. The very dead breed that affects birds is found on American farms – H5N1 – In all fifty states It led to a quiet decrease in the population of eggs, which sharply reduces egg supply at the country level.
“Since 2021, we have decreased 7 percent of our supplies” from chicken laying eggs. “This is a large amount of supply to decline – and grow – now.”
More than 160 million cultivated birds It was ill, died, or was slaughtered after exposure to the H5 breeds of bird flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The number of wild birds that surrendered to the disease is probably not prohibited, as the birds in the wild are closely monitored from the birds collected for profit. The last six months of the disease were especially brutal spread to farmers. Tomson said, in the first two months of 2025 only, was affected by 22 million inch chickens of eggs.
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In fact, the population of a chicken laying eggs in the United States is likely to be their lowest level in the past decade. Local bird residents.
This – in addition to seasonal factors such as high demand for eggs during holidays – caused high prices of eggs in bulk and retail. “I think there is a very strong relationship between egg prices and very pathogenic bird flu,” said Besky, using another name for H5 strains of the disease.
Climate change also plays a role in high egg prices – albeit differently from how other types of food increases. In recent years, harsh weather events such as drought and floods have occurred Displaced food supply chains Shock waves were sent through the economy that ends up hitting grocery shoppers. In 2022, the Mississippi River entered a period of this severe drought that transports crops to feed livestock She could not navigate her channels. Meanwhile, in California, Flood and Extreme heat He struck some of the country’s largest lighthous suppliers. As a result, the price of the vegetables, salads, some dairy products and meat. A Ticket It was published last year that the intense heat driven by climate change will exacerbate general inflation in almost every country in the world by 2035.
When it comes to eggs, climate change indirectly affects the supply – by changing the patterns of migrants and nesting habits for birds that carry bird influenza. With the high average global temperatures and the rough weather events defending animal migration patterns and forcing some species north towards increasingly moderate atmosphere, animals cross the paths of completely new formations, making it easy to switch diseases.
Since bird flu develops rapidly and most of them in the wild, it is difficult for researchers to determine a place and how climate change can affect its spread. What a handful of scientists who work on this topic can be said is that the temperatures of warming and high sea levels change when and how birds move across continents, which may affect occurring over the past half of the past decade or so.
On average, birds start their migratory trips from south to north earlier in each season due to the warmer spring temperatures in the northern hemisphere, and the influenza season extends. Sea birds build their nests beyond the coast with an inch sea level rise, forcing these birds in connection with more closer types. The fact that these outbreaks are not only affecting birds but also gray bears, seals, sea black, dolphins, foxes, and joy – not to mention this Dairyand Home petsAnd Human beings It is also an indication that the virus improves the movement between different types of animals.
“The climate change has clearly affected the patterns of migration, and there are many references to this. It is much more complicated to establish a scientifically.” Gilbert. Participate in a composition of a study It was published in 2008, which is expected to be the most concrete effect of climate change on bird influenza is to convert the transition between wild birds.
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Other factors also contribute to the spread of bird flu. Pesque has argued that land management – for example, how close farms are built into wetlands and other water bird habitats – can contribute to high H5N1 rates between local bird groups. So in order to reduce the spread of bird flu, which he said is a settlement and will not completely disappear, politicians can pay more attention to the place where the farmer is located.
For shoppers who wonder when the prices of eggs will decrease, relief may not reach some time. “I expect prices to return at one time,” Tomson said, adding that the prices of eggs are not “sticky” – they do not jump and remain high. Over time, they recover.
When this happens, it depends on the outbreak of the future and the extent of the speed to make the eggs to cut it from the chicken. Farmers can take A tougher vital security Mandates to keep their herds safe, such as ensuring that wild birds cannot enter the chicken cup or feeding boxes and reduce external visitors. The federal government also It seems that he is considering vaccinating poultryBut industry groups say they will work Negative External sales. Tomson said that if there are no more bird influenza cases that start tomorrow, it may take about six months to recover. But this is unlikely – with Easter only two months away, consumers can expect to see another increase in the demand for eggs.
Tomson said: “The depth of this recovery, and the extent of this is the question that revolves around everyone’s mind.” “I don’t think anyone can tell you accurately,” when it happens.
