The wholesale price of eggs in the U.S. tends to jump in the weeks preceding Easter each year, but in 2016, that does not appear to be the case.
Just last week, the wholesale price of eggs was at $1.05 per dozen, compared to the same week in 2015, when the price per dozen was $1.66, reported USDA Radio News.
“We’re just not seeing the kind of demand pressure on price that we have seen in previous years,” said Shayle Shagam, USDA analyst.
Wholesale egg prices hit their highest in 2015 weeks after Easter because of an egg shortage brought on by the avian influenza outbreak. While millions of laying hens were lost in 2015 because of the avian influenza outbreak, producers have been rebuilding their flocks and prices have normalized. However, according to Shagam, the U.S. hen population is still about 7 percent lower than it was a year ago.
Despite the hen losses brought on during the late spring and early summer of 2015 because of the avian influenza outbreak, egg supplies in the U.S. may be higher than they were one year ago because the U.S. is exporting fewer eggs because of trade restrictions other countries put in place over fears of avian influenza’s spread. The U.S. is also importing more eggs, according to the USDA.
