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Consumers from all over the country have recently been shocked by the huge cost of empty food store shelves and eggs. But the US Department of Agriculture said that on Friday, the onset of avian influenza is unlikely to fall, by killing millions of birds killing millions of birds.
The price is nearing an all -time high in the US market. According to the Labor Statistics Bureau, the average cost of the 12th grade eggs was $ 4.15 in December. This is about 37% higher than the previous year, but slightly lower than the $ 4.82 record reached in January 2023.
The USDA predicts that consumer costs will increase by 20.3% in 2025, so the price of eggs can be much higher. On the other hand, other food categories showed medium price growth and costs lower than historical average.
The outbreak of bird influenza, which began in 2022, has now killed more than 145 million birds in the United States, and producers reported that infection has increased significantly over the past two months. In December and January, about 33 million birds were affected, and this month, a series of positive detection reduced the existing egg betrayal group by 3.7%.
According to the USDA, a huge loss has caused supply shortages as the amount of monthly frozen eggs in storage reaches the lowest level in the last three years. As the supply decreased, consumer prices have risen significantly, and also have windfalls for the largest egg producers in the United States.
The grocery store began to limit consumer purchases to preserve supply and prevent panic purchase. According to USDA, they also ended their promotional activities and lowered demand to lower demand by maintaining the price of “record or almost record best”.
As President Donald Trump swears the campaign trail, consumer egg prices have become a political problem. On Sunday, the Democratic Senate Group urged the president to announce a plan to deal with prices.
Representatives, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, told Trump, “Americans are looking for you to lower food prices. “But instead of trying to lower the grocery bill, you used the first week of the administration to forgive individuals who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, forgive individuals who changed the mountains, and to end their birth citizenship. . “
The Democratic Party insists on a letter that groceries and egg producers are raising prices by utilizing bird flu and making record profits. The parliamentarians urged Trump to take measures on the price fixing of the food industry, including the ban on exclusion contracts that are more difficult for retailers to cooperate with small egg suppliers.
Egg producers were convicted of price fixing with the Illinois Court in December 2023, and the manufacturers ordered more than $ 53 million after colliding internally to increase the price internally by reducing the crowd for several years.
Nevertheless, producers have made great progress to alleviate supply losses due to the fatal influence of bird flu. About 22 million hens, ie, in January 2024, lost 21.5%of the group as of January 2024. But they were able to offset a significant portion of the loss and lost only 4 million henes. According to USDA, the end of the year.
Marc Desner, director of the Communications Director of American Egg Board, said, “Farmers are doing their best to protect the crowd and maintain eggs. “We do not disappoint our expenses about bird flu.”
