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.
“ 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.”
That…and 10 times worse than that…is the only slim chance Americans have of uprooting the political system that gave them that.
“Unusual” is a diplomatic way to put it, I guess.
Yeah, right? These aren’t 1960s prices. We’re talking a year or two ago.
My buddy has 5 hens. The tore up his yard to the point you cant even really go back there. Messy creatures.
It'll be something much more benign. "Sad Cow Sniffles."
"And while the FDA couldn't find any link of this illness to humans, authorities still carried out the destruction of 10 million head of cattle --just to be on the safe side."
Not here. Eggs at any price are not available at Costco because of the Bird Flu. How is it that this virus is hitting egg producers all over the country--all at the same time?
This has been going on for about a year. It’s just reached a tipping point at a time when egg use soared (Holiday baking uses a lot of eggs.)
Egg production has been in decline since 2019. This year should see a definite increase.
http://www.egg-news.com/statistics.aspx
I bought 72 eggs at Costco the other day. I paid $12.
I get my eggs from Amazon’s Fresh Market.
They always have a ton of eggs for $3.50, $4.39.
Never have to leave the house either!😄
When I was a child we kept chickens and guineas. We used to refer to guineas as fox bait. They tended to be more feral and run off where predators got them.
I just found out, eggs are now available at Costco.
All this turmoil has happened under obama and biden.
Eggs are an essential part of my diet so I'll pay just about any price to get them. Currently I'm finding them at local farms for between $5 and $6 a dozen. The farm eggs, especially the ones that are unwashed, are much better in my opinion in terms of taste and nutrition.
I often get mine from the Amish.
Bird flu is spread via migrating birds. Usually chickens kept in chicken houses are safe, but the article states:
The ministry said in some cases, a sparrow or a rat infected with the virus entered the coop through a rip in the chicken wire or a hole in a wall.
In other cases, the ministry said farm did not take sufficient preventive measures, such as replacing and sanitizing farm workers’ clothes and boots.
Here in the Philippines, we are not on the path of migrating birds so we are usually free of bird flu, but there have been outbreaks thought to be due to smuggled in meat from China.
To make things worse there is a lot of African Swine flu among pigs in East Asia, and a shortage of onions.
And with the high price of fertilizer and diesel to run farm equipment, soon the price of rice will skyrocket: indeed, we are barely making a profit now.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say that sounds like it was intentional.... Bill Gates must be smiling............................
You should see an ostrich egg. Talk about your massive egg omelet.
+1
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
