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Gasoline prices are climbing rapidly, fueling Americans' frustration with the high cost of living. But at least we are getting a break on eggs. Not so long ago, eggs were the poster child for runaway grocery bills. But with Easter just a few weeks away, egg prices have fallen dramatically. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: A year ago, people were scrambling just to find eggs. Some stores were rationing the breakfast and baking staple. And prices went through the roof. Today, our national frying pan runneth over with eggs. And the retail price has dropped by nearly $2 a dozen.
EMILY METZ: There's never been a better time to buy eggs.
HORSLEY: Emily Metz is president of the American Egg Board.
METZ: Our message right now is pick up another dozen. They're especially affordable right now.
HORSLEY: The turnaround is all about avian flu, which a year ago had wiped out tens of millions of laying hens. The virus hasn't gone away. There were big outbreaks last month in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina. But flu season has done far less damage to egg farms this winter than last. Livestock economist David Anderson of Texas A&M says that may be thanks to farmers' increased safety precautions, changes in the flu virus or just plain luck. Whatever the reason, there are about 9 million more hens laying eggs in the U.S. now than there were this time last year.
DAVID ANDERSON: We had the time to expand the flock of egg-laying chickens. And that's helped bring down prices.
HORSLEY: While that's good for egg lovers, it's not so good for egg farmers. While the supermarket price of eggs has dropped by 42% in the last year, Anderson says the price farmers are getting has plummeted more than 90%.
ANDERSON: That's an extremely low price. We're getting into the territory where it's probably below producers' production costs.
HORSLEY: When prices were sky high, farmers who had eggs to sell made good money. Now that prices have plunged, they're barely getting by. Egg farmers are reluctant to cut back on birds, though, since they don't know when the flu might flare up again. Mike Puglisi's egg farm was one of the first to get hit with avian flu back in 2022. The virus wiped out 80% of his laying flock in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
MIKE PUGLISI: First of all, it's emotional because everything that I did my entire life was to keep chickens healthy, take care of the customer and take care of your employees. And now all of a sudden, you have to have all your chickens euthanized. You have to destroy all the eggs so you don't spread it. It's traumatic.
HORSLEY: It took Puglisi the better part of a year to restock his hen houses. Since then, he's been fortunate not to face any further flu outbreaks. He uses lasers and predatory bird calls to shoo away wild birds that might carry the virus. He's also extra careful about the people who come in contact with his chickens.
PUGLISI: All henhouse employees, when they come in, in the morning, they take off their street clothes. They go through a shower and they wear farm clothes. The farm clothes stay on the farm at all times. We launder them on a daily basis for them so that the next day, they'll have clean clothes.
HORSLEY: All these biosafety measures cost money. And while the price of chicken feed has gone down this year, most of Puglisi's other expenses have increased.
PUGLISI: If you can tell me a way to produce eggs and not lose money, I'm all ears (laughter) because you can't even pay for feed at that price. And that's where we're at right now.
HORSLEY: And just as people didn't stop buying eggs when prices took off last year, they aren't buying a whole lot more now that prices have come back to Earth. With Easter around the corner, though, the egg board's Emily Metz is hoping demand might crack wide open.
METZ: Easter is our Super Bowl. Get ready to celebrate Easter, Passover, all of the springtime holidays. And maybe dye an extra dozen this year.
HORSLEY: A seasonal warning for your Easter basket, though. The price of chocolate eggs is still going up.
Scott Horsley NPR News, Washington.
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