Dive Brief:
- The USDA reported that negotiated wholesale prices for graded loose eggs continued a “sharp downward trajectory” as March so far has seen no “significant outbreaks” of bird flu, according to the department’s most recent weekly Egg Markets Overview report, which was released Friday.
- Demand for shell eggs dropped steeply over the past week, partly because grocers aren’t currently incentivizing egg purchases as they look to avoid running low, according to USDA.
- Despite these positive trends in the egg supply chain, grocer’s egg prices have yet to reflect these trends and demand is expected to remain “dampened,” according to the report.
Dive Insight:
Grocers have recently made progress in building up their stock of shell eggs as the supply of the staple food becomes more available, the USDA reported.
The volume of eggs processed last week grew 6.5% — the highest level in three months, — per the report. The overall shell egg inventory increased just over 5% while the national inventory of large class shell eggs increased 8.5%.
The USDA added that it is still unclear if these conditions will continue and if pricing will improve before the expected increase in consumer demand for Easter, which falls on April 20.
Egg prices were almost 59% higher in February than a year ago and rose 12.5% on a month-to-month basis, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. Last month, eggs had an average price of $5.90 per dozen, up 94 cents from January, according to the USDA report.
At the end of last month, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a $1 billion strategy to curb the ongoing bird flu, protect the U.S. poultry industry and lower egg prices. The strategy includes providing $500 million for biosecurity measures, $400 million in financial relief for impacted farmers and $100 million for vaccine research, action to reduce regulatory burdens and exploration of temporary import options.
However, the five-pronged plan comes as the USDA struggles to rehire employees who were working on the bird flu outbreak, but were fired during the Trump administration’s widespread layoffs of government workers, Politico reported last month.
