“David L. Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University, said he thinks U.S. egg prices will continue to fall in May and June. Consumer demand tends to fall after Easter, which helps lower prices, he said,” according to Durbin’s reporting. “Fewer bird flu outbreaks at commercial poultry operations in recent weeks also has helped to stabilize the country’s egg supply, Ortega said.”
Grocery Prices Down Overall in April
Agri-Pulse’s Philip Brasher reported that “the cost of eating at home fell 0.4% in April, seasonally adjusted, on broad price declines throughout the grocery store and an especially sharp drop in egg prices.”
“The overall (Consumer Price Index) rose 0.2% when seasonally adjusted, driven in part by higher housing and natural gas costs. The cost of eating out, which is heavily affected by labor expenses, rose 0.4% in April,” Brasher reported. “Shoppers saw no relief in beef prices, which rose 0.1% in April and are up 8.5% year over year due to relatively tight cattle supplies. But elsewhere in stores there were plenty of price declines.”
“The price of pork was 1.4% lower in April, and chicken prices dropped 0.3%,” Brasher reported. “Prices for cereal and bakery products dropped 0.5%. The price index for dairy products dropped 0.2%. The cost of fruits and vegetables dropped 0.4%, led by a 2.8% fall in citrus prices.”
Bird Flu Could Still Impact Egg Prices Going Forward
Newsweek’s Shane Croucher reported that “bird flu has weighed heavily on the supply of eggs, killing more than 169 million birds since early 2022. Any time a bird gets sick, the entire flock is killed to help keep bird flu from spreading.”
“That can have an effect on the egg supply because massive egg farms may have millions of birds. In April, outbreaks on two farms in Ohio and South Dakota affected more than 927,000 egg-laying hens,” Croucher reported. “The Trump Administration has sought to bring prices down by importing hundreds of millions of eggs from abroad. It has also put $1 billion into efforts to tackle bird flu, including biosecurity, relief for farmers, and vaccine research.”
“Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at the end of March that the egg imports were a short-term solution until the U.S. once again had a full population of egg-laying chickens to meet its domestic supply needs, ‘hopefully in a couple of months,'” Croucher reported.
Durbin reported that “the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating Cal-Maine Foods, the largest U.S. egg producer, which supplies around 20% of America’s eggs. Cal-Maine confirmed the investigation in early April. Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine said its net income more than tripled to $508.5 million in its most recent quarter, which ended March 1.”
Source : illinois.edu