Omaha, Neb.- Egg producers blame the epidemic on the influence of birds for driving prices to record the maximums, but critics believe that giant companies are taking advantage of their market domain to benefit at the expense of egg buyers attentive to the budget.
Defense groups, democratic legislators and a member of the Federal Commerce Commission ask for a government investigation after egg prices have increased at a record average by $ 4.95 for dozen this month. The Trump administration has revealed a plan this week to combat avian influenza, but how much could egg prices – a key factor of inflation – remains to be seen. 
“Donald Trump has promised to reduce food prices on the” first day “, but with the prices of the eggs they climbed out of control stars, he shot the workers accused of containing avian influence. The families who work need relief now,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren in a note.
Industry and most experts blame avian influenza. More than 166 million birds have been massacred to contain the virus. About 30 million layers of eggs have been swept away since January, significantly interrupting egg supplies. The long -standing policy of the Agriculture Department was to kill entire flocks every time the virus is on a farm.
As a result, the number of layers of eggs decreased at national level of about 12% from before the epidemic to 292 million birds, according to an estimate of the USDA on February 1, but since then another 11 million layers of eggs have been killed, so it is probably worse. When prices increased to $ 4.82 two years ago and pushed the initial calls for prices enlargement probes, the flock was more than 300 million.
“This has nothing to do with something different from the avian influence. And I think that suggesting anything else is an incorrect reading of the facts and reality, “said the president of the Aggange American Egg Board.
“Our farmers are in the struggle of their life, point, stopped. And they are doing everything possible to protect these birds, “said Metz.” This is an supply challenge. Due to the avian influence. Nothing else. “
The agricultural action suspects monopolistic behavior. The group that puts pressure on behalf of farmers, consumers and smaller rural communities notes that the production of eggs is down only 4% compared to last year and about 7.57 billion table eggs were produced last month, but some consumers are still finding empty eggs in their local food stores.
“Dominant eggs companies are blameing avian influenza for the increases in the prices we are seeing. But while the egg offer decreased only slightly, these companies have increased, “said Angela Huffman, president of Farm Action. The Justice Department recognized that he had received the letter from the group asking for an investigation but refused to comment on it.
The fact that a jury ruled in 2023 according to which the main egg producers used various means to limit the national supply of eggs to increase the price of products in the 2000s, now adds to doubts about their reasons.
What do the numbers show?
The prices of the retail eggs had generally remained below $ 2 per dozen for years before the start of this outbreak. Prices have been more than doubled since then, increasing profits for egg producers even if they deal with conceded costs.
Most dominant producers are private companies and do not release their results. But the largest cal-maine foods, which provide about 20% of the nation eggs, are public and its profits have increased drastically. Cal-Maine recorded a profit of $ 219 million in the last quarter when its eggs were sold for an average of $ 2.74 per dozen, compared to only $ 1.2 million in the quarter just before the start of this outbreak at the beginning of 2022 when its eggs were sold for $ 1.37 per dozen.
Sherman Miller, president and CEO of Cal-Maine, said in reporting that the highest market prices “continued to increase this fiscal year since the levels of procurement of shell eggs have been limited due to the recent highly pathogenic aviatory outbreaks”.
But he said that Cal-Maine has also sold more more than 330 million dozen eggs, compared to the 288 million of the previous year-in the quarter because the question is so strong and Cal-Maine has made a series of acquisitions. Cal-Maine also underwent few outbreaks in its farms, outside a couple of structures in Kansas and Texas. The company based in Mississippi did not respond to the calls of the Associated Press.
And the production costs?
Economists and analysts say that record prices of eggs are not a safe sign of something nefarious and that short -term profits could only last until farms are affected. Once a flock is massacred, it can take up to a year to clean a farm and lift new birds in age. The USDA pays farmers for each killed bird, but does not cover all costs for farmers while they go without income.
“The consumer, I believe, will probably hear how he was getting the end of the stick. But I guarantee you, farmers who have to depopulate the barns are experiencing a more difficult time, “said Cobank’s analyst Brian Earnest.
The inflation of feed costs, fuel and work has contributed to the increase in egg prices and farmers have invested in biosyphic measures to help keep the virus away. Therefore, the production costs seem to be also to the historic tops, according to the price of the price of the manufacturer of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“This is not a coincidence in which they are taking the price to make the market. It is that the price is going up to the wholesale auction. And they are benefiting from the highest prices because the supplies are tight, “said the agricultural economist of the University of Arkansas Jada Thompson.
