US egg prices reach record high as bird flu hits production

Bird flu outbreaks have led to the culling of 10.4% of the conventional layer flocks in the US, with the loss of production resulting in soaring egg prices for US consumers.

A total of 26.8 million egg-laying birds have been culled to date in 2025, with 13.2 million depopulated from farmers in December 2024 alone.

The average cost of a dozen eggs has risen from $2.82 (€2.70) in January 2024 to a record price of $4.95 (€4.75) in recent weeks.

In some states, prices have jumped to over $9 (€8.65) per dozen.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that a shortage of eggs, once limited to certain regions of the country, are now impacting most major markets as the continued outbreaks of bird flu dent attempts at flock recovery.

“Grocers continue to limit consumer purchasing to stretch existing supplies, but this has heightened consumer awareness of the egg shortage, leading to an increase in opportunity buying which further reduces available supplies,” it added.

The Trump administration announced this week that would be investing up to $1bn (€960m) in the sector to combat bird flu and reduce egg prices.

US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins launched a new strategy which includes a biosecurity package, financial relief for farmers and money for vaccine research.

“American farmers need relief and American consumers need affordable food. To every family struggling to buy eggs: we hear you, we’re fighting for you and help is on the way,” she said.

New measures

Some $500m (€480m) is to be invested in biosecurity and the USDA has said that it will expand its wildlife biosecurity assessments to producers across the nation, beginning with egg-layer facilities, to safeguard farms from the cause of 83% of high pathogenic bird flu cases: transmission from wild birds. Biosecurity audits will also be expanded.

The US government said it will continue to indemnify producers whose flocks must be depopulated to control the further spread of bird flu and that new programmes are being explored to aid farmers to accelerate the rate of repopulation, including ways to simplify the approval process to speed recovery. Some $400m (€384m) has been allocated for this measure.

It will spend $100m (€96m) on a strategy for potential “new generation vaccines, therapeutics and other innovative solutions to minimise depopulation of egg-laying chickens”.

The USDA said that it will educate consumers and Congress on the need to fix the problem of geographical price differences for eggs, such as in California, where recent regulatory burdens, in addition to avian flu, have resulted in the price of eggs being 60% higher than other regions of the country.

The department also confirmed that it will be exploring options for temporarily increasing egg imports and decreasing exports, if applicable, to supplement the domestic supply, subject to safety reviews.