Egg prices are spiking again this fall and could go even higher if avian flu outbreaks further reduce layer flocks, according to an Auburn University extension economist, Dennis Brothers.
Egg prices are currently higher than they were at this time in 2022 and 2023, Brothers said in a report for Southern Ag Today. Egg prices eventually reached an all-time high of nearly $5 a dozen in 2022 amid a major outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, Brothers wrote.
“When we compare 2022 to 2024, we see a haunting premonition of where egg prices could be headed this holiday season,” he wrote. “The current price spike looks to be holiday demand coming in the face of a decrease in layers producing the eggs; the same thing we saw in 2022.”
The average wholesale price of eggs in 2024 is $3.66 a dozen, compared to 90 cents for 2023 and $3 for 2022, according to USDA data.
According to USDA, there are currently just 4.1 days worth of shell eggs available for sale, so “any additional hen losses could have a significant impact on the market,” Brothers wrote.
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