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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revealed a new plan to combat bird flu, the spread of which created a severe egg shortage and caused egg prices to jump in the United States.
The $ 1 billion plan includes financial assistance for poultry, as well as the financing of new studies for treatment and vaccines. In the short term, the agency aims to increase the import of eggs to meet the demand.
“US farmers need relief, and US consumers need affordable food,” Trump Minister Brooke Rollins wrote in editing the Wall Street Journal. “Every family that struggles to buy eggs: we hear you, we fight for you and the help is on the way.”
But how bad is the egg crisis, what are the details of Trump's plan to relieve prices and when can consumers get relief?
How much do eggs cost in the US?
An average of about $ 4.95 per dozen.
This is the highest highest-spent doubling the price just a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In some major cities, prices are even higher, reaching $ 8 to $ 10 per dozen in Chicago, New York and San Francisco.
An increase in prices has made the daily main breakfast a condescension for many consumers. Some popular breakfast chains, such as Denny's and Waffle House, have taken to add payments for egg dishes. “An ordinary egg sandwich is like a luxury,” a food buyer in Chicago, John Harris, told Reuters news agency.
Why are prices so high?
The spank is largely due to Raising H5N1 bird flu Cases in American poultry farms. Since February 2022, the virus has passed through all 50 states and Puerto Rico, hitting more than 1600 herds, according to the USDA animal and plants of the USDA.
To prevent more distribution, whole herds are killed wherever viruses are found. During the crisis, over 160 million birds were killed, including 30 million this year, crippling trade holdings and causing a major deficiency of eggsS
“If there are no birds to lay eggs … then we have a shortage of supplies and this leads to higher prices due to the dynamics of demand and demand,” explained Jada Thompson, a poultry specialist in Arkansas.
Earlier this year, the number of egg chickens in the United States amounted to 304 million, an 11 % decline from five years ago, according to the USDA.
What measures did previous President Joe Biden take?
The Biden Administration spends about $ 1.5 billion in the fight against the distribution of H5N1 after it appeared in 2022. Thus A long -standing US government policy followed To print the affected poultry populations by weaning.
Reducing the number of chickens caused egg prices to rise continuously during Biden's term of office – from $ 1.60 per dozen in February 2021 to $ 4.10 in December 2024. The price continues to increase since it reaches $ 4.95 this week.
In addition, Biden allocated more than $ 600 million to stop the virus from spreading to people, including by monitoring diseases, treatment and testing preparations, diagnostics and vaccine innovations.
What is different in Trump's plan?
While the Trump administration employees accused Biden of causing the price of eggs due to shortage policies, the USDA said it would continue with the same approach.
“There are currently no changes in our current printing policy,” says Rosemary Siford, Chief Veterinary Officer of the USDA Health Inspectorate and Plants, Wednesday.
However, the agency has announced a package of $ 1 billion to deal with egg shortages at different angles.
In Wednesday's press release, the USDA said it would spend $ 500 million to strengthen FARMS biosecurity protocols that protect poultry from catching H5N1 from wild birds and $ 400 million to restore farmers whose herds were torn off. He also said he would invest $ 100 million to develop new vaccines, treatments and solutions to protect chickens from bird flu and reduce the need for their collection, as well as improving monitoring during outbreaks.
In addition, the USDA says it will look at how to eliminate loading regulations in the industry that increase prices, including for pursuit of poultry, and temporarily import more eggs.
Where can more eggs get?
The United States produces the greater part of the eggs it consumes. But with the prices of domestic prices of all time, he is now striving to import more.
One country to which he is turning is Turkiye, who expects to send 420 million eggs to the United States this year, six times more than last year, according to Turkish egg producers Central Union.
However, this is a small part of the US total demand, equal to less than half a percent of 109 billion eggs it produces during the year leading to November 2024, according to USDA data.
The US government did not specify the other countries that it hopes to receive more eggs, but historically received some imports from Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and China.
By 2023, the Netherlands was the largest egg exporter in the world, selling more than 1 billion duves abroad, mainly to Germany, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. Turkiye, with $ 441 million in exports, is ranked fifth. He sent the greater part of his exports to eggs to the bay.
What do experts in the industry say?
Trump's multipromoted plan for dealing with the egg crisis has been positively obtained from the industry trade groups.
The United Egg Producers, which are companies producing more than 90 percent of eggs in the United States, thanked Trump for “stepping to take action.”
“President Trump and USDA secretary Brooke Rollins have demonstrated their commitment to work with US farmers in addressing HPAI devastation (bird flu) in the US egg industry, stimulating resources and experience in where they are most necessary.”
UEP thanks President Trump and Secretary Rollins for their commitment to fighting the devastating effects of highly pathogenic bird flu #Hpai on us #EGGFARMERS With this historical investment of $ 1 billion.
Read our statement about this important initiative. @Usda @Secrollins pic.twitter.com/hgb4tvsole
– United Egg Producers (UEP) (@unitedeggprod) February 26, 2025
However, some experts are pushing for a faster deployment of chickens, which are currently taking time to administer and risk involuntarily harming the entire poultry market. This is because some foreign buyers do not take poultry from countries that vaccinate against H5N1, the fear that the vaccine can simply mask the spread of the virus.
“It may seem to me that we will have to start using vaccines if we want to start putting on this fire,” says Gregory Gray, a professor of a medical branch of the University of Texas.
Will egg prices fall or will they continue to rise?
USDA egg prices are designed another 41 percent this year.
Rollins, however, believes that within a year or two prices will return to the range of $ 1.30 to $ 2 per dozen, observed during Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021.
At a press conference on February 24, she said that “the bottom line for consumers … is that we will repair it.
“We have reduced our work for us,” she admitted.
