Egg prices are set to keep climbing in 2025, possibly jumping by over 40%, according to the Agriculture Department. On Wednesday, the Trump administration shared new details about its plan to tackle bird flu and try to lower egg costs.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins emphasized improving biosecurity on farms, announcing an additional $1 billion investment to fight bird flu. This is on top of the nearly $2 billion already spent since the outbreak started in 2022. Officials had hinted at this plan earlier in the month.
But it’s unclear how much more farmers can do to protect their flocks. Since the 2015 bird flu outbreak, egg and poultry farmers have already been taking major precautions, like requiring workers to change clothes, shower before entering barns, using separate tools, and sanitizing vehicles. The main issue is that the virus is spread easily by wild birds migrating past farms.
The spike in egg prices, which hit a record $4.95 per dozen this month, is largely due to the slaughter of over 166 million birds to prevent the virus from spreading. Most of those birds were egg-laying hens. Last month was particularly tough, with nearly 19 million egg-laying chickens killed.
The USDA now predicts that egg prices will increase at least 41% this year on top of the already record prices. Just last month, the increase was predicted to be 20%.
