Posted on 02/16/2023 11:28:51 AM PST by Red Badger
The cost of a dozen eggs has now surpassed the price of a pound of beef, marking the first time that’s happened since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping data in 1980.
The average price of a dozen large Grade A eggs ran at $4.82 in January 2023, while a pound of ground beef was $4.64. In January 2022, eggs were $1.93, and beef was $4.77, but egg prices have soared by 70% in the last year alone.
Farm Action, a farmer-led advocacy group, says the “real culprit” behind sky-high prices is a “collusive scheme” among top U.S. egg producers to fix prices to gouge consumers.
In a January letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Farm Action said the alleged collusion has helped egg producers to “extract egregious profits reaching as high as 40%.”
The letter said avian flu is not to blame. “Examining publicly-available financial data from the egg industry, the letter determines that the supply disruption caused by the avian flu outbreak had an ‘apparently mild impact on the industry,'” the group said in a press release.
The group also said egg producers are making money hand over fist. “For the 26-week period ending on November 26, 2022, Cal-Maine reported a ten-fold year-over-year increase in gross profits — from $50.392 million to $535.339 million — and a five-fold increase in its gross margins,” the letter said.
But Dave Juday, an agriculture economist with the Juday Group, said there is a slew of reasons for rising prices.
“The reason for egg price inflation is Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI),” he told The Daily Wire. “To date, about 5.76 million birds have been depopulated due to HPAI and 43.78 million have been commercial layers. As a result, 2022 egg production was down about 363.6 million dozen from the 2019/2020 average.”
The dearth of eggs led to higher costs, “passed on at a higher proportion to other [corporate] food processors/manufacturers more than retail consumers. … Markets – especially commodities – are priced on the margin. That is why a 30 percent production change can drive a 60% change in price,” Juday said.
He also said Farm Action’s comments that CalMaine and others “extorted margins” doesn’t make sense because it “ignores the way markets work.”
“For those who believe in market economics, the price the buyer is willing to pay for the amount of a product that is supplied is the classic text book definition of ‘demand.’ An analogy, it would be refreshing to learn that Farm Action turns down marginal additional donations because it is already publicizing and lobbying its issues on the budget it already has and because the ‘demand’ from donors for more such work is irrelevant to their production of that work.”
The high cost of eggs has led to a spike in plant-based egg alternatives. Eat Just, which develops and markets the brand JUST Egg, saw a 10% increase in U.S. household penetration for its egg alternatives in January, chief revenue officer Matt Riley told Fox News.
“We achieved 2.1 million, our highest household number since we’ve launched nearly four years ago,” he said.
...and the hens still get NOTHING!!!
“...requiring expensive “comfort” for the chicken.”
I looked in on a chicken house [broiler] that had just been completed. Amazing. Better than most people’s housing across the world.
They get to be Guest of Honor at their ‘retirement’ dinner!..................
Got's to know stuff....
You just made my day, FRiend!
The yoke is on us.
I paid $3.08 for a dozen large eggs at Wal-mart a couple of days ago. I’m much more worried about the price of everything else than I am of eggs.
Yolk
I'm sure leftwing nutty regulations are part of the problem. Thanks for sharing your insights. Interesting. Also the avian flu, bad feed, and 'god only knows' what the Chinese have added to the mix... Seems it's one of those perfect storm things.
Oops ..the yolks on me.
““collusive scheme” among top U.S. egg producers “
AH. So the Biden memo has made it out. It’s BIG EGG!!!
So many lies from these evil bastards. Got to a feed store. Since Chomo Joe was installed all my animal food has easily doubled. Goat food and COB for the other animals pre Chomo, about $7 a bag. Now. Close to $20 a bag. Chicken food the same. Two to Three times higher than pre Chomo Joe.
Starting here:
“But Dave Juday, an agriculture economist with the Juday Group”
The article is BS. Sure sounds like money grubbing to me as with so many other things. There is no shortage when you can still buy the product even going so far as the shelves are full. I go shopping for the wife about once a month and have NEVER not seen the egg cabinet FULL.
Greed has no boundaries. If you own all the egg production you can charge anything you want so long as people have to keep buying them. selling half the volume for more than twice the price is a win for the producers. They just don’t care so long as they make money.
Maths is hard!
If eggs went from $1.93 to $4.82 in 1 year as stated.
How did Mr. Curl come up with an increase of 70%?
$1.93 + 70% would be $3.28
$1.93 + 150% is $4.83
article is hogwash ... everyone here knows it’s because bags of Tractor Supply chicken feed have some kind of mysterious new toxic ingredient ... probably defective graphene oxide that was rejected for use in covid vax ... either that or chem trails ...
There is something to this article.
I’ve been buying local, corn-free/soy-free eggs (pasture raised) for a number of years. Before the virus they cost me $4.99/doz.
The purchase I made on Tuesday was $4.99/doz. Yes, stores are selling eggs as high as $9/doz (name brands).
Maybe it is price fixing.
We had no issues when Donald Trump was president with the cost of food or gas or utility bills. The skyrocketing inflation happened under Biden and the corrupt congress spending trillions. The article and others like are trying to deflect from reality.
Could very well be.................
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