US /

Egg Shortage Puts a Damper on Holiday Prep

Bird flu in nearly every state has caused eggs to get pricier, or vanish from store shelves completely
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2024 2:00 PM CST
Egg Shortage Puts a Damper on Holiday Prep
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Muhammad Gunawansyah)

If you're shopping this weekend for fixings for your Thanksgiving feast, don't be surprised if eggs are hard to find, or expensive when you do find them. Per the Washington Post, shelves in many supermarkets nationwide have been sans eggs, with bird flu to blame for the most recent shortage. The Post cites a USDA report released Friday that notes egg production in the US was down 2.6% in September from a year ago, and is expected to drop 1% year over year for 2024. To put more specific numbers to it that consumers care about, Yahoo Finance reports that a dozen Grade A eggs cost an average of $3.37 in October—a 30.4% rise from the previous October, though it was a drop from the $3.82 per dozen seen in September. The average cost of eggs was $2.52 at the beginning of 2024.

However, at the start of the year, those same dozen were going for just $2.52. "Egg prices have risen more than any other consumer staple in the last year and far outpaced last month's overall food inflation level of 2.1%," reports the Post. The USDA says it expects egg prices to keep rising into the early part of 2025. "Bird flu is by far the biggest factor involved with egg prices," American Farm Bureau Federation economist Bernt Nelson tells the Post, which notes that the avian influenza has affected more than 108 million birds in nearly every state since the recent outbreak emerged in early 2022. "More hens are dying from avian flu, and the remaining flock isn't growing fast enough to compensate," the Post notes, citing the USDA.

Nelson adds: "As bird flu comes and goes, our egg prices ride the wave." Oklahoma State University agricultural economics instructor Amy Hagerman told NPR in September that chickens that produce the eggs we eat may be more vulnerable to the contagious illness due to the close quarters they're typically kept in. Emily Metz, who heads up the American Egg Board, said at the time that "inflationary pressures" tied to fuel, labor, and packaging may also be driving up egg prices. Meanwhile, Forbes reports on other Thanksgiving menu items that might be more costly this year, including dinner rolls, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. (More eggs stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X