Egg Prices Jump

Can you get sticker shock while shopping for eggs?  Many consumers say in this economy, yes.  USDA  livestock analyst s Shayle Shagam said this week, his department saw a big run up in both retail and wholesale prices for eggs.

“Supplies of eggs for immediate sale are very, very tight.  And what we have seen is wholesale prices that were about $2.57 in July, for the New York egg price that we track, going up to about $4.14 yesterday.”

This time last year, wholesale eggs were averaging only $1.23 a dozen.  Shagam said bird flu has cut the number of egg laying hens.

“On July 1st, there were about 305,000,000 table egg lane birds compared to our previous year when there were about 313 million. So a smaller number of birds.”

He noted that has sent egg production down, which means prices move up.

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