Posted on 01/10/2023 10:57:58 AM PST by Red Badger
Eggs have been a pretty cheap, basic food across history.
Well, they were cheap anyway, until recently:
The rising cost of eggs in the U.S. is denting household budgets. Americans in recent years have increased the number of eggs they consume while reducing their intake of beef and venison, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ...
In California, for example, data shows the average price for a dozen eggs reached $7.37 last week, compared with $2.35 a year ago. The national average egg price per dozen wholesale is now $3.30, the USDA said last week. The average price for a dozen eggs by U.S. city grew to a record $3.58 in November, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Those numbers, of course, don't capture the whole story. It's true that eggs are just obscenely expensive in California:
But they're increasingly not cheap anywhere else, either. Here's prices in one part of Texas — that's $8.70 for 18 eggs, or about $6 per dozen.
In some cases, meanwhile, there are simply no eggs available at any price:
So what's behind this spiraling situation? Two familiar factors: Supply and demand.
Egg consumption has grown in part because more families are eating them as their main protein substitute, Los Angeles Times reporter Sonja Sharp told CBS News. "Each of us eats about as many eggs as one hen can lay a year," she said.
As demand for eggs has risen, production in the U.S. has slumped because of the ongoing bird, or "avian," flu epidemic. Nearly 58 million birds have been infected with avian flu as of January 6, the USDA said, making it the deadliest outbreak in U.S. history. Infected birds must be slaughtered, causing egg supplies to fall and prices to surge.
So people have moved away from meat and towards eggs, sending demand up-up-up:
...while bird flu has culled millions of layers from U.S. flocks, driving supply to crater into the ground:
Prices will surely come down again, but it will probably be a while:
Sharp said prices will likely not fall again until after new chickens are born without the infection and grow to egg-laying age. More than 300 flocks of farm-raised poultry have been hit by the outbreak as of last Friday, according to USDA data.
The very modestly good news is that skyrocketing food prices have been offset by decreases in other consumer categories:
The Consumer Price Index — a closely watched inflation gauge — rose 7.1% in December from the previous year. Falling prices for energy, commodities and used cars offset increases in food and shelter.
Stay strong, folks, we're not out of the woods yet.
Easter will be interesting.......................
Buy them at Costco, still cheap.
Just last week in PA I saw $5.00 per dozen for Eggs at Wegman’s. And these were plain large eggs.
Inflation is now 400%!
IEEEEEEEEE!
I have definitely cut down on venison from none to completely zero.
I’m gonna buy some chickens..............CHEEP!.................
That’s a good investment if you have the room for them. An egg a day per hen. aell them at a stand on the corner.
It doesn’t help that millions of people coming across the border want eggs too.
Can't. Two used car lots there!...................😜
We sell fresh eggs at $5 per dozen and we usually sell out every day.
50 lb bag of scratch is up to $25
I have had people (even on FR) tell me this is not true and that they are buying eggs for .99 a dozen. So obviously, this is mis-information.
Seriously, do people not realize how the cost of basic ingredients effects the cost of everything? It’s not just about the retail cost of your dozen of eggs. How many food products require eggs? A lot! Yes, in some cases you can use substitutes and there are chemically created ones available that are used commercially, but still with the price of ALL basic products still going up, the price of groceries will continue to rise. Also, restaurants buy dozens of eggs per day. So, they have to keep raising their prices.
People cannot take much more inflation and maintain their current lifestyle. Soon you will see stories on the increase of bankruptcy filings. People will not be able to both eat and pay their mortgage.
I've gone back to my Rhode Island Reds. Dual purpose breed for eggs and meat. Good mothering hens if you let them sit on a clutch for replacement birds every two years.
Gates has the same plan for cattle and hogs. Heck we might have to figure out alternative water sources. He's got plans like that black serum in Prometheus. Remember, Hollywood script writers know what's really going on.
I have ten ducks: Blue Swedish, Khaki Campbell, and various Indian Runners. They have be laying so many eggs that we eat our fill and even sell a few dozen for $5/dozen each week.
Ducks lay more eggs than chickens, are hardier animals, and the eggs are larger and packed full of nutrition. They lay about one egg per day per duck. We get 8-10 per day.
But, ducks are messier to keep than chickens.
That’s another thing, literally millions of people coming across the border, yet local businesses can’t hire enough workers to serve customers.
Our local Denny’s isn’t open 24 hours except on weekends, many other restaurants are way understaffed, and can’t handle the load, our Fast Food places are not open for breakfast like they used to be, many retail places don’t have but one or two cash registers open at any given time.
So where are all these ‘workers’?................
I eat 2 dozen eggs a week...
“Buy them at Costco, still cheap.”
“This Costco is now completely sold out of eggs.”
Google that.
My experience is most of the males are doing roofing, construction, landscaping, etc and the females are doing housekeeping at hotels, etc.
They don’t work restaurants or retail mostly because of the language problem.
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