Having stayed near all-time highs for months, the price of eggs will continue to fall dramatically this year as long as bird flu outbreaks do not rebound in the United States, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Thursday.
Lower prices would be a relief for buyers, who in recent months have paid more for eggs than ever before. The price of a dozen eggs rose 150% in January from a year earlier, to $4.80 a dozen, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In 2023, wholesale egg prices will fall 26.8 percent, USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer said in a presentation at the USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in Virginia on Thursday.
The agency has attributed high egg prices to historic bird flu outbreaks, which have killed more than 58 million free-range and commercial chickens and turkeys since February 2022.
Egg production will increase 4% this year to 9.4 billion dozen, according to the agency, and the number of laying hens will rebound.
“Although that point has not yet been reached, a full recovery of the layer population is expected,” the USDA said in its livestock and poultry forecasts.
Meyer noted that his forecast assumes there will be no continued outbreaks of bird flu.
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