America’s flock of egg-laying hens dropped to the lowest since 2016 in January as avian influenza resulted in the death of millions of birds, driving egg prices to record levels.
Eggs have been setting new highs every week this year with fewer chickens hatching eggs. Supplies are running thin at grocery stores, sparking purchase limits, while restaurants such as Denny’s are adding surcharges.
The number of layers fell to about 363 million in January, down 3.8% from a year ago, US Department of Agriculture data showed Monday. Egg production of 8.865 billion was down 4.2% and the lowest for the month since 2016 — when there was a previous major outbreak of bird flu.
More bird flu cases are still coming in, including a commercial egg operation in Darke County, Ohio, where more than 3 million birds were affected last week, according to the USDA.
Farmers are also bracing for wild birds to begin their migration. “Once birds start flying back north as the weather warms up, flu cases could start rising,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Justin Barlup said.
--With assistance from Dominic Carey and Daniela Sirtori.
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