If you’re thinking about making some scrambled eggs or baking a treat, your wallet may have you thinking twice. That’s because the price of eggs has shot up dramatically.
Over the last year, the average price for a carton of eggs has gone up about 68%.
Not only are commercial poultry operations having issues but so are backyard flocks.
“We’re just kind of limiting what we’re doing with eggs because they’re ridiculously priced in the stores right now,” said Alina Wilson, Owner & Operator of Cornerstone Acres Farm.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics says the average price of eggs in January 2022 was about $1.90.
The average price for eggs was close to $4.00 this past November.
The USDA says the main factor is the avian flu that was first detected in February.
“Once you have the flu on your farm, you must decimate your whole flock. Otherwise, it’ll continue to spread. So that means we’re having a lot less chickens, which means a lot less eggs,” explained Andrea Bushre, Farm Director at NanBop Farm.
“The avian flu outbreak here in Wexford County was just down the road from us. We were super cautious. We did everything from dipping our feet and making people who came into the farm dip their feet,” said Wilson.
That led to every poultry-related price going up.
“It’s gone up about 40% on the chicken feed, which has just increased the cost of doing business in general,” said Wilson.
They are ultimately leading to egg prices rising.
But other factors are playing into the price increase as well.
Cornerstone Acres Farm in Boon says this is the first winter in 30 year’s their chickens haven’t laid any eggs.
“I don’t know if it’s this odd weather that we’re having. I mean, we’re going from negative numbers to 40 degrees, and it’s just been really wet. When you have this weather contributing, the chickens can get more stressed,” explained Wilson.
Down the road from Cornerstone Acres Farm is Smoke on the Water Farm, a predator killed their chickens.
“We reached out to the community via Facebook, and we just asked for help from our local farmers. What we found was that a lot of our local farmers are actually struggling to produce eggs as well,” said Joseph Beck, Co-Owner and operator of Smoke on the Water Farm. “We ended up finding four dozen eggs for four for $3 a dozen, and that helped us out.”
Farmers say it isn’t clear when prices will start coming down.
“This is something we’re all kind of learning as consumers and producers. The cost of goods is a lot different now than it used to be,” said Bushre.
The last reported case of the avian flu in Michigan was on December 30th in Sanilac county.
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