Egg prices could still jump 40% this year, as Trump admin shares $1B bird flu plan

The Agriculture Department predicts the current record prices for eggs could soar more than 40% in 2025, as the Trump administration offered the first new details Wednesday about its plan to battle bird flu and ease the cost of eggs.With an emphasis on tightening up biosecurity on farms, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA will invest another $1 billion on top of the roughly $2 billion it has already spent battling bird flu since the outbreak began in 2022.Officials had hinted at the plan earlier this month.It’s not clear how much more farmers can do to keep the virus out.Egg and poultry farmers have already been working to protect their birds ever since the 2015 bird flu outbreak by taking measures like requiring workers to change clothes and shower before entering barns, using separate sets of tools and sanitizing any vehicles that enter farms.

The challenge is that the virus is spread easily by wild birds as they migrate past farms.And the main reason egg prices have soared to hit a record average of $4.95 per dozen this month is that more than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to limit the spread of the virus after cases are found — with most of those being egg-laying chickens.Last month was the worst yet for egg farmers with nearly 19 million egg-laying chickens slaughtered.The USDA now predicts that egg prices will increase at least 41% this year on top of the already record prices.

Just last month, the increase was predicted to be 20%.And the average prices conceal just how bad the situation is, with consumers paying more than a dollar an egg in some places.The situation is hurting consumers and has prompted restaurants like Denny’s and Waffle House to add surcharges on egg dishes.The high egg prices, which have more than doubled since before the outbreak began, cost consumers at least $1.4 billion last year, according to an estimate done by agricultural economists at the University of Arkansas.Egg prices also nor...