Want cheaper eggs? Go north, young man!

[samhexum]

This is why Canada has plenty of eggs — and the U.S. doesn’t
While the U.S. grapples with an egg shortage caused by avian flu, eggs remain plentiful and affordable

in Canada.  There are reasons for that, including that egg farms there tend to be smaller.

https://apple.news/AUG3nXUzKQNCree4Ethbnqw

With egg prices in the United States at record highs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now exploring the ways other countries produce eggs for potential solutions. The department may not have to look far: Just over the border, eggs remain plentiful and affordable in Canada.

"We have not had any shortage of eggs," says Mike von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph, in Ontario. "We can choose from 14 different types of eggs."

That's a stark contrast with the U.S., where avian flu and efforts to contain it have wiped out tens of millions of egg-laying chickens, forcing some supermarkets to limit egg purchases and driving restaurant chains like Denny's and Waffle House to add a surcharge on egg dishes.

Meanwhile, shoppers just north of the border have plenty of eggs to go with their Canadian bacon.

"I get calls from reporters here in Canada and they say, 'We're hearing all this about eggs,'" von Massow says. "And I say, 'Well, that's in the U.S. It's not happening here.'"

Canadian chickens can catch avian flu, just like their American cousins. But the impact on Canada's egg supply has so far been limited.

Von Massow suggests a number of explanations for that. It gets colder in Canada, so barns are more tightly sealed, which helps keep flu virus carried by wild birds out. Canada also has fewer free-range chickens, which are more susceptible to getting infected.

But perhaps the biggest difference is that egg farms in Canada are much smaller, so when one farm does suffer a flu outbreak, the effects are less far-reaching. The typical egg farm in Canada has about 25,000 laying hens, whereas many farms in the U.S. have well over a million. In effect, American farmers have put a lot more of their eggs in a relatively small number of baskets.

"If individual farms represent a larger proportion of production, then when an individual farm is affected, you're taking more of that supply, right?" von Massow says.

American egg farms weren't always so big. The typical farm in the U.S. has quadrupled in size since the late 1990s, according to a paper co-authored by poultry economist Jada Thompson at the University of Arkansas. That's partly because competitive pressure in the U.S. to produce cheap food encourages farmers to make it up with volume.

"These companies aren't making tons of money per egg," Thompson says. "They're selling a lot of eggs."

Many farms in the U.S. rely on automated equipment that requires a large number of birds to operate efficiently. Most of the time, that industrialized agricultural model delivers cost savings for consumers. Eggs are typically cheaper in the U.S. than they are in Canada.

"The benefits have been affordable eggs at lower prices," Thompson says.

But there are also trade-offs, as the avian flu outbreak has highlighted.

"If a disease gets in the house, now you have a much larger population that's impacted," Thompson says.

When avian flu is discovered on an egg farm, all the chickens on the farm are killed to limit the spread. More than 40 commercial egg farms suffered flu outbreaks in January and February alone, with a loss of more than 28 million chickens, according to USDA figures analyzed by the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute. That's about 9% of the country's commercial egg-laying flock wiped out in just two months.

It takes at least six months for newborn chicks to replace those laying hens. In the meantime, the U.S. egg supply will remain under pressure. While wholesale egg prices have fallen in recent weeks, Easter is around the corner, and the holiday typically brings a seasonal jump in egg demand.

Large-scale egg farms aren't the only choke points in the highly concentrated U.S. food supply. Recent years have shown how the closure of a few big slaughterhouses or a single baby formula factory can trigger price spikes and empty store shelves around the country.

So, what has kept Canadian egg farmers relatively small? Von Massow points to Canada's supply management system, which guarantees even small farmers enough income to stay in business.

"There is less incentive to grow because I can make money at this size," he says. "There's still an incentive to be efficient. But there's not a requirement to get as big."

To keep its small farms viable, Canada also restricts imports of farm products like eggs and dairy from the U.S., which is one source of friction in the current trade war.

Despite the trade war, the U.S. government has one potential solution to help meet demand and keep egg prices from climbing even higher: temporarily increasing egg imports.

 

 

 

 

[+ Lucky]

I am going to bump @samhexum 's thread!

From the nytimes.com:

The wholesale price of eggs has dropped sharply since the beginning of March after soaring for months, but it may take a few weeks for grocery shoppers to see the decline.

Wholesale egg prices, which are what retailers pay to procure eggs, have fallen to a national average of just over $4 for a dozen large white eggs, down from a peak of more than $8 at the end of February, according to data from the Agriculture Department released last week.

But because eggs typically have a four-week shelf life, it may be the end of March before retail prices start to drop, said Jeremy Horpedahl, an associate professor of economics at the University of Central Arkansas. Some stores, he added, may not lower prices until their current inventory sells out.

Economists said the decline in wholesale prices, which are still above long-term averages, was very likely fueled by a combination of factors: bird flu’s coming under control, weaker consumer demand, ramped-up supply and producer pricing decisions. The Agriculture Department noted that there had been no significant outbreaks of avian flu in March, and economists say any new outbreaks could push up prices again. The virus has forced egg producers to cull tens of millions of hens since late last year.

 

In February, the retail price of eggs rose 10.4 percent from the previous month, continuing a monthslong climb, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released last week.

Economists noted that prices might not come down evenly across the country. Areas with competing grocery stores might see egg prices fall more quickly, Mr. Horpedahl said, while those dominated by a single chain — with the power to keep prices high for longer — may not. Retail prices may also depend on grocery chains’ strategies, with some opting to keep prices lower to entice customers into stores.

“They can pass the savings of wholesale prices onto us entirely, or not at all, or somewhere in between,” said David Anderson, a professor of economics and business at Centre College in Danville, Ky. High demand for eggs leading up to Easter may keep prices elevated through then, he said.

 

 An outbreak of bird flu in 2022, along with increasing fuel, feed and packaging costs linked to the coronavirus pandemic, pushed wholesale egg prices up to nearly $5 a dozen at their peak. Although the spike in egg prices was smaller than the recent surge, overall inflation was higher, piling pressure onto household budgets.

Egg producers have blamed the spread of avian flu for tighter supplies. United Egg Producers, the industry’s trade association, noted that the industry had lost more than 40 million egg-laying hens in 2024 and 31 million in just the first two months of this year as the virus accelerated.

Mr. Anderson said the bird flu had hit supply in “dramatic ways.” But at the same time, he added, “the industry may see the bird flu epidemic as a cover for additional price hikes that aren’t necessarily needed.”

“Part of it is they’re really dealing with a crisis,” he said. “Part of it might be, ‘Do we have some cover to keep our prices artificially high?’”

The Justice Department is in the early stages of an antitrust investigation looking into whether major egg producers have shared information about pricing and supply that contributed to a spike in prices. Some lawmakers and advocacy groups had previously called for federal regulators to investigate the industry’s pricing practices.

Danielle Kaye is a business reporter and a 2024 David Carr Fellow, a program for journalists early in their careers. More about Danielle Kaye

[Ali Gator]

I was in Market Basket (RI) this weekend - one dozen large brown eggs for $3.49. That's the cheapest I've seen in months. 

[+ sync]

I'm in upstate NY and the local ShopRite had zero eggs this morning.

I'm consoling myself with preferring to go eggless than contracting bird flu.

😒

[Luv2play]

I live in a small town in Ontario and I get my eggs at a farm where the farmer has a small number of hens. He also raises beef cattle as his main source of income. He charges $2.50 a dozen, ungraded large and small, white and brown all mixed together. That would be less than $2.00 in  be US dollars.

The greatest feature is they are farm fresh, no laying around in the retail pipeline. I go once every two weeks and buy 2 dozen. I often have two for breakfast. I’ve been going to him for about 6 years and he only raised his price once from 2$, a fifty cent increase. 

[Ali Gator]

Does anyone know anything about the grades of eggs ?  I buy whatever's in the dairy case - I don't care if they're white or brown, large, or extra large, or what grade they are (I pay more attention to these details when hiring a provider - especially the large / extra large).  Anyone know about eggs and if it matters to those who just like to make an egg sandwich for breakfast a couple of days a week ? 

[samhexum]

New strain of bird flu wipes out Mississippi poultry farm; human flu may offer immunity

A new strain of bird flu is detected at a poultry farm; scientists learn past flu exposure may provide some immunity to H5N1.

A new strain of a highly pathogenic bird flu known as H7N9 has surfaced at a poultry farm in Mississippi where chickens are raised for breeding.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/strain-bird-flu-wipes-mississpi-100009136.html

Edited March 19 by samhexum
for absolutely NO @%!*ING reason at all!

[+ sync]

[Luv2play]

I read a report today that egg smuggling into the United States from Canada has spiked recently. Over 3000 instances were reported at the Windsor/Detroit crossing in Jan and Feb 2025. Some were just small amounts undeclared by travellers but others were more significant quantities involving illegal trade. 
 

The reason was simple. A dozen eggs in Walmart in Detroit were over $8 US and in a Walmart in Windsor Ontario under $3.90 Cdn or under $3 US. 

[+ Italiano]

After a few times that I went there and they had NO eggs, yesterday I bought Large Pasture eggs at Trader Joe's for $4.99 the dozen 🙂